Rings of Smoke
by Hemlock
Summary: I promised you guys something, didn't I? Now is the time.
1. A Day's Work

  
  


CHAPTER ONE

  
  
  
"Ah god dammit," Sakura cursed as she ripped apart her shirt arm. One hand went to a hole on the chest of a knocked out ninja she had been assigned with. The hole spouting out blood as if there were no tomorrow.   
  
"What the hell are you watching me for, go get the enemy!"   
  
Takai and Hakame stared at each other briefly, then left quickly. Sakura turned to the ninja whose chest now was soaked with his own blood. "Damn," Sakura thought as she tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure upon the wound. Her hand, which had been bundled with the ripped cloth, pressed the wound as her other hand tried to fetch a pill inside her pill pouch.  
  
After the difficulty had been gotten over with, Sakura pried open Satoshi's lips and pushed the pill down. Slowly then she began focusing her healing chakra on the wound, feeling the healing effect steadily repaired the slightly damaged organs and whatever that needed healing inside his body.  
  
With a quick overview provided by her chakra she realised his wounds was not as bad as she had initially feared. No vital organs were severely damaged, but without proper care he could slip into danger. Sakura began focusing her chakra on her bundled hand.  
  
"Satoshi, don't leave us…" Sakura chanted as she let her chakra flow freely inside his body. She closed her eyes, focusing even more until she felt almost faint. "Don't leave us yet…"  
  
Now her chakra was sealing the small wounds that had pierced the stomach lining, and restoring and regenerating the cells around it. He had been plunged into a shock after the attack and didn't regain consciousness, which she had mistaken as dying. And –  
  
She stopped thinking with a strangled gasp. Someone was behind her.  
  
Even when she was healing the wounded Sakura never let her guard down, something she had learnt during her Chuunin Examination days and never forgot since. Sakura tried to think, as she felt the enemy was closing in very fast. In fact, the enemy was still far when she first detected him/her. The aura was undeniable: madness, bloodlust and deadly.  
  
Her free hand quickly took out three kunai with explosive tags on them. She had to take a risk by throwing one blindly behind her. She did that, and somewhere between 10 to 15 feet away from her it exploded.   
  
Sakura craned her head as far back as she could manage. There was nothing as far as she could see. But then they were in the middle of nowhere, or more exactly in the middle of the thick forests that bordered the Fire Country and the Earth Country. Led here by their quarry, a missing-nin named Kin, now their mission hanged by a thread by the look of situation.  
  
Her eyes moved wildly about, trying to locate where the unseen enemy was while at the same time trying to stabilise her flow of chakra. A disruption in its flow could start an internal injury and would cost Sakura the life of her colleague. She must not move, her second ego told her. She must not move away from Satoshi or else the whole mission would be in vain.  
  
Calling for Takai and Hakame would be pointless. She would give away her position and if those two would hear her at all, they would be too late and fall instead into a trap.   
  
A hustle, then a blur came from her left. It rushed toward her with frightening speed. Sakura saw it though and she quickly lifted the second explosive kunai to throw it dead straight at the blur.   
  
To her surprise it exploded before it even left her hands. Sakura was thrown back, but her bundled hand held onto Satoshi's chest in the last minute. She had a mere breath-take before she realised she was on her back beside Satoshi and looking up to a very sharp blade, hanging precariously not an inch from her forehead. She held her breath when she saw whose face seemingly was split by the deadly iron.   
  
It was Kin, the missing-nin. He grinned down at her, his white teeth looked alarmingly white against his blood-drenched face. Some had flowed onto those teeth, colouring them red. He licked the blood and drew his face closer to Sakura's. His breath, which stank of rank blood, swept over her face.  
  
"Ah… a beautiful creature. To what do I owe the pleasure of ripping your skin off your face?"  
  
Sakura could feel her chakra flow failing. _No! NO! DON'T FAIL NOW!!_ She closed her eyes when Kin was close enough for her to smell blood off his face. Those narrow, deadly eyes held no humanity, no shine. Only a dull sheen that mocked and laughed at her fear for him remained.   
  
"Open your eyes," Kin was saying, then his fingers suddenly sought her eyelids. Sakura screwed them as tight as she could. "Open your GODDAMNED EYES!" Kin said, as his fingers again tried to open them. She only screwed them tighter.  
  
"Playing hard to get, eh? Well, I know how to turn the tables." With that a moment's pause followed before a blinding white pain cut across her outstretched arm. Taken both by surprise and pain Sakura screamed aloud and her eyes opened.   
  
"Ah, the lady finally acquiesced," Kin snarled, pushing his face close to hers. "So, what do you think of my performance today? Satisfying? Commendable?"  
  
"Did you kill the children in the village down the stream?" Sakura asked, still trying to force her chakra flow although her arm was hurt. Two weeks ago, parents from the said village had come pleading to the Hokage for help. Their children had been massacred while the rest of the village were harvesting in the paddy fields. Preliminary investigation revealed Kin's identity.  
  
"What if I did? Does it make any difference?"  
  
Sakura looked at Kin in disgust. "You killed an entire generation of new hope."  
  
"Oh, so you're only concerned of the children? What about them?"   
  
Kin had been slinging a sack behind his head. Now he grabbed it and threw it onto the ground. The sackcloth fell open and two heads rolled out. Takai and Hakame. Their eyes weren't even closed. Sakura closed her eyes; something inside her twisted and grew thorns and pierced every part of her insides.  
  
"Ah, so you know them, too! And what are you going to do now? Give your life up for them too? Or for your Hidden Village? I learnt a long time ago that nothing else worth living or dying for other than my own wonderful self."  
  
"Then you go and destroy others'." Sakura shook her head. "You're wonderful all right. Wonderfully fucked in the head."   
  
His face was still close to hers, which was a perfect opportunity for her to spit onto his face. With a cry Kin stood back and after wiping her saliva he let out another cry and lifted his dagger high. The dagger came plunging down at a terrible speed when suddenly something exploded and Kin was thrown back by the force.   
  
Smoke rose and fell, and Sakura tried to sit up again, her hand still upon Satoshi's chest. She could feel that her chakra was fading but that was okay. Satoshi was fully healed, and her chakra chose a good time to run out.   
  
Feebly she tried to see through the smoke and succeeded. Kin was lying on his back, with his dagger stuck in his throat. Sakura only now realised that the dagger was very wide. It in fact had not only pierced his throat, but it also caught his lower chin.   
  
Sakura gave out a feeble laugh. Her chakra finally spent, she fell back upon the forest floor, her sight failing. Her left hand (the hand that was not on Satoshi's chest) reflexively curled in, and before Sakura fell into the comforting abyss she felt she was holding her explosive kunai in that palm, and a bright yellow flash coming toward her.  
  
She fainted after that.  
  
  
_wake up  
  
… we need to get her to the room…  
  
I don't believe you still have that ribbon, Ino!   
  
… hokage-sama, please help my daughter!!...  
  
Of course I do! And now that we're on different paths, I think it's all the better I keep it.  
  
What do you mean?  
  
Oh, nothing... I know you're happy because you've gotten the jounin badge of Medical Nin!  
  
Who told you that, Ino?!  
  
Your mother, of course!  
  
I told mum not to say a word. She just spoilt my biggest surprise! Ah, well. Ino, what about you?  
  
I'm a member of the special force. Great, isn't it?  
  
Well, at least you'll get to travel a lot. I'm a medic; I travel only around these parts.  
  
Well, Sakura, that's not actually why I asked for this…  
  
…  
  
Sakura…?  
  
…  
  
Sakura…!  
  
… go away, Ino. He's not coming back!!_  
_  
_  
  
"Sakura."  
  
For the first time since eternity it seemed Sakura opened her eyes. The sunshine flooded her brain like some welcomed draught of fresh air into an old attic. For a while she could not associate anything in her sight. Then slowly she could.  
  
Her mother was bending over her, trying her best not to burst into tears. Sakura tried to smile at her mother, and it was too much for the latter. She burst crying.  
  
Later when she realised where she was and learnt of her team mates' fates, she was left alone to reflect on what had happened. From her mother she knew that it had been six days since the incident in the forests. Funeral service for Takai and Hakame had been held a day earlier. Satoshi meanwhile had been released two days before.   
  
Sakura lifted her right hand and it stung, although it was wrapped inside a nice bandage. She closed her eyes, cursing her helplessness.   
  
When her mother disappeared Sakura was left to her thoughts. Outside she could see the tiny lane that ran all the way down to the heart of the village. She let her thoughts take its own course, thinking about particularly nothing. Even her alter ego was quiet.  
  
A knock at the door made her turn her head around. Satoshi was standing at the door with his left hand in a sling. His chest was bandaged, which explained why he wore only a jacket for modesty's sake. "Hi," he said, lifting his good hand. His torso moved graphically with that motion.  
  
Sakura turned away. Satoshi looked down for a moment and walked toward her bed. He took a seat at her bedside and stared at her small face. Her expression was hard to read. The only indication was that of her chin. She held it defiantly high, although Satoshi could not think of any reason she should be.  
  
"Sakura," he began.  
  
"Thank me later, Satoshi, if you cared to. Right now I don't deserve any praises. I let my comrades die while I did nothing to help them."  
  
He nodded as if expecting this from her. "You couldn't have helped them, Sakura. Kin was too strong even for all of us combined."  
  
"Was he?" Sakura asked with an edge in her voice. "What did the special forces tell you? I want to hear it."  
  
Satoshi carefully chose his words as he began: After he had woken up he realised that Kin was killed and Sakura was close to death due to chakra overuse. Satoshi could do nothing because his own chakra was close to none, and he did the only thing he could. He risked detection by unwanted companies by sending a flare message. He waited for hours, in which he fed Sakura healing pills he had found in her pockets, and sometimes attempted to heal her bit by bit.   
  
Sakura did not say a word when he finished. She simply got off her bed and walked outside. After thinking a few seconds, Satoshi decided, against his better judgement, to follow her.  
  
He found her atop the hospital. The topside was fenced securely after a few cases of suicides. She stood at the far end of the topside, sitting between two huge water tanks. It was noon, and the sun fortunately was not so blistering, covered by occasional clouds. The whole village seemed to have dropped into a lazy afternoon lull. Calm silence permeated from every angle, and Satoshi felt a bit better in the chest.  
  
He heard Sakura's voice over the calm afternoon air. "Leave me alone."  
  
Satoshi closed in, standing behind her. "It's an order."  
  
"What, waiting on me?" Sakura asked, her voice laced with feigned amusement. "I don't realise I've become so important."  
  
He shook his head and shrugged as he sat beside her. "I don't know. What I know is that the Hokage wants me to keep an eye on you. Indefinitely."  
  
"This is outrageous," Sakura hissed.  
  
"Look, Sakura," Satoshi suddenly raised his voice, "I know you're blaming yourself about what happened to Takai and Hakame. I would, too. But you need to remember that by becoming a jounin, danger and death is part and parcel of the A-class missions."  
  
Sakura kept her silence.   
  
"There's no use thinking too much about it. Takai and Hakame were killed in action, and that is the greatest honour anyone could give them, if there was any. It doesn't mean that I don't miss them. Hell, Sakura, they are – were – my friends! Don't you think I deserve to mourn worse than you? Yet here I am, trying to stop you from thinking too much."  
  
Satoshi glanced at Sakura, whose demeanour seemed unaffected by his words. "Sakura, it's not that I want you to forget them – Takai and Hakame – but rather remember them the best you could. Honour their memory. I promise you'd feel better."  
  
Sakura turned to him and gave Satoshi a brief smile. It was both sad and amused at the same time. "What?" he asked.  
  
"You know, I forgot the last time someone promised to me."  
  
Satoshi expected more was in the coming. "And…?" he cajoled her with a smile.  
  
"You made me remember it," she nodded and stood up and began to leave.  
  
"And…?" Satoshi called out at her. "What happened then?"  
  
She paused at the door. "He didn't keep that promise. He _ couldn't._" The last word was said with a strange mixture of disgust and hatred. With that she was gone, leaving Satoshi wondering to himself.  
  
  
"Why did you call me here, again, Asuma?"  
  
Kakashi leant against the bridge railing, an old copy of _ Come Come Paradise_ in one hand. Asuma sucked at the cigarette and threw it off the bridge. He turned to Kakashi. "Did you hear?"  
  
"About what? Jiraiya's latest books? I think they're tasteless, He used to be good, but nowadays they were simply tasteless. Did I mention flat, too?"  
  
Asuma sighed. With all the _Paradise_ series Kakashi had read and collected, it was a wonder why this pervert jounin stayed single. With all the books and the level of explicit details they imparted, even a monk would become a ruthless rake. Kakashi, however, stayed as a mere pervert.   
  
"The Anbu team who went to recover your ex-student discovered something rather unexpected." Asuma had heard this from Ino, who was in the retrieving team. The vivacious young girl had decided to become part of the Anbu and as this was her first assignment, she was understandably excited and in one sitting told every detail of the mission.   
  
Asuma had wanted to warn her of the dangers of discussing one's mission or assignment even though it was completed when one part of her story caught his interest.  
  
"And that was…?" asked Kakashi.  
  
"You know that allegedly Sakura killed that infamous Kin the Slayer. Well, Ino's team mates thought otherwise." Kakashi's eye widened but Asuma shook his head quickly. "No: this time Kin was REALLY dead, unlike your encounter with Zabuza. His own dagger pierced him at the throat."  
  
"He went mad because of that dagger, if I heard it correctly." Kakashi had followed the developments of this mission because **a)** Sakura was heading this mission, acting both as a medic and a leader; and **b)** Kin used to be a good guy, but after a mission in which he found the dagger he became a madman and began slaughtering men, women and kids – simply anything that came across his path. "So who killed him if Sakura didn't?"  
  
Asuma lowered his head and whispered a name that shouldn't have been uttered in the village:  
  
"_Uzumaki Naruto_."  


  


_A/N: After hours and hours of endless thesis fine-tuning, I think I'm through with writing. But here it is! Enjoy it, guys! And please do what any author would love: review! _XP


	2. Memories to Haunt You

  
  


CHAPTER TWO

  
The book Kakashi held fell upon the bridge. "_Impossible_!" he demanded. "That's utterly _impossible_!"  
  
With a small satisfied smile Asuma shook his head. "No, Kakashi. It's _not_ _impossible_. It's only _fantastic_, but not an _impossible_ story at all."  
  
Kakashi began to walk in circles. "But – that's all _impossible_!"  
  
"Not impossible, _fantastic_," Asuma stressed.  
  
"Whatever." Then he paused in his tracks. "What – was there any proof? What made them conclude such a – as you refer to it – _fantastic_ theory? We all know what happened to N- to him."  
  
Asuma nodded. "There was proof. Do you remember his best skill?"  
  
Kakashi could not help himself from laughing. "The Harem no Jutsu?"  
  
Asuma shook his head. "The other skill. The one Jiraiya-sama taught him."  
  
Kakashi remembered. It became one of Naruto's greatest jutsu, sadly. "Yeah, what about it then?"  
Sakura was discharged from the hospital later that evening. After saying polite farewells she went straight home via the backdoor, unwilling to face Takai's and Hakame's families who were waiting for her in the hospital compound. She had not known why they waited for her, neither did she care. All she wanted was time for herself.   
  
She spent the night thinking about everything that had happened six days ago. Normally she would tell herself that this was not her fault, but somehow something was amiss. She fell asleep trying to figure it all out.  
  
Satoshi paid her a visit the next day. "I thought the orders were lifted when I exited the hospital yesterday," she said when she saw him at the front door.   
  
Satoshi cracked a silly grin and bowed at her a few times rapidly. It seemed he liked the bandage-and-jacket style, because here, today, Satoshi stood with a different jacket, and wrapped in fresh bandages. If anything, the bandages only served to emphasize the breadth of his chest. "Actually, I'm just checking up on you. I have to apologize about yesterday, too."  
  
"I don't remember you making a mistake."  
  
"I – I called your name instead of _sempai_." Satoshi recalled how he felt quite liberated when he called her real name instead of the term. Then he had ratified his guilt by telling himself that no matter what, Sakura was still his senior, level-wise. "I'm sorry."   
  
He hastily added: "And to give you this. My mother made it."  
  
Satoshi took out his hand hidden at his back. He had been hiding a beautiful cardboard box that looked suspiciously like a sushi box set. "Well, that's it. I hope they're your favourite; teriyaki, seafood sushi, and some miso."  
  
Sakura took the box from him, looked at him, and waited. Satoshi meanwhile looked restless. "I guess," he said after a long moment passed, as he stepped back from the door, "I'll be leaving. Enjoy it."  
  
As he turned his back to Sakura and prepared to walk away, she called to him: "I think I'll need some help, Satoshi. I can't finish this all by myself. Besides, I've got tea brewing on the stove."  
  
Satoshi looked over his shoulders. "Is that an invitation?" he asked. Hope against hope.  
  
Sakura smiled at him. "No. It's an order. And I'm barely a year older than you, so drop the senior-junior thing."  
Empty plates lay upon the table. Chopsticks, still sticky with miso, littered here and there. Sakura and Satoshi meanwhile had retreated to the window seat where she used to daydream of days of long ago, sipping their tea in silence.   
  
Sakura broke the silence as she put her cup away. "Your mother is a great cook. I'm ashamed to be a woman."  
  
Satoshi watched her over the rim of his cup. His eyes, blue on one side and green on the other, were full of fond emotions. "I beg to differ, Sakura. You're good enough a woman."  
  
Sakura did not notice this; she was staring at the clouds. "For whom? I don't think no man could love a woman who could barely cook without setting the house on fire. Not to mention a complete failure in ikebana. Ino had to teach me –"  
  
"Ino?" Satoshi interjected. "Ino, as in the Anbu team?" Sakura nodded. "Wow, I didn't know you are friends!"  
  
Sakura cringed. "I don't think she'd agree to that, Satoshi. We're more like rivals. Rivals in school and rivals in love."  
  
Too late, she had said it, and just as soon the old pain began to throb inside her. Great. Just when her moods were getting better. She reached for her cup but grazed her fingers at the rim and sent the poor piece of fine porcelain down onto the streets. It hit the pavement and crashed, and someone below cursed. Sakura's eyes became cold and distant once again as she stared briefly at Satoshi and got up and walked inside. Somewhere a door was shut close.  
  
Satoshi's left eyebrow rose quizzically. For a minute or two he considered what he should do now. Looking skyward, he realised it was about to rain. He closed the window with an accidental slam. Then he moved toward the table and began clearing it. Carefully balancing all of the utensils on his hands and arms he walked gingerly toward the kitchen sink. He placed them inside the sink and began washing a plate, cognizant to let the water run slowly.  
  
Suddenly a door down to the left of the sink opened and Sakura came through it. It didn't take a genius to realise she had been crying.   
  
"What are you still doing here?" Sakura asked, obviously ashamed by this state of self and angry that Satoshi was still here. "I thought you left."  
  
Satoshi dried the plate and began washing another, trying his best to look nonchalant and not to notice her reddened eyes and nose. He decided not to ask her why she had cried. "I slammed the window accidentally."  
  
Sakura pushed him away from the sink even as he grabbed a plate, ready to wash. "Go home, Satoshi."  
  
"Just a bit –"  
  
"Go – home – _already_."  
  
He knew when to back away. Satoshi washed his hands and left, still in a bit of a daze. Later that evening he decided to meet his ex-mentor in the local Korean BBQ joint. Ino would always be found there with Chouji and that excellent leader, Shikamaru, tagging along.  
Ino picked at her meat disinterestedly.   
  
"I'm gonna eat that if you don't, Ino," Chouji said with his chopstick hovering above the meat like a butterfly over some luscious, honey-laden flower.   
  
"Go ahead, Chouji," she said. If this was ten years ago, she would have stopped him and dragged him outside. But now that they were all adults, Ino wondered whether she could lift up something as big as Chouji. He tipped the scale at 235 pounds, his pants got bigger everyday (to her it seemed), and food – where should she begin elaborating about his passion for food? Would it be his endless craving for bovine-flavoured potato chips, or did he prefer rice balls the least?   
  
Her mind ruminated on these as Chouji, with grand flourish, ate the last piece.  
  
But like his father, Chouji gained in height what he gained weight, so this made him look dangerously intimidating. Ino was thankful of that; if he didn't, Chouji would have looked like a midget.   
  
"I'm worried," began Shikamaru, who was sitting opposite her. Asuma had left earlier, probably some late night call with Kurenai. It was no secret that they had started seeing each other after –   
  
Ino quickly shut her eyes. Even thinking about it made her heart hurt. It might help listening to Shikamaru's bitching instead. She opened her eyes and turned to Shikamaru, who gingerly sipped his drink. "Yeah, Shikamaru, what are you worried about?"  
  
Shikamaru was the only person of her batch – the ones who took the Chuunin exams that ended in an all-out war with the Sand and the Sound – who remained a Chuunin. His reasons were simple: being a Jounin was too troublesome. Now he stayed in the village and taught in the academy, replacing Iruka who had recently taken an interest in doing missions.   
  
"The Genin examination is around the corner," he reflected after a brief pause. "I don't know what I must ask my students to do. Should I make them do a difficult jutsu or just a simple one?"  
  
Chouji burped loudly. Ino restrained herself from pinching him. Pinching a half-an-inch of fat-covered skin was useless. She learnt that some years ago – quickly she shook herself mentally.  
  
"You should stick to the traditions, Shikamaru," Chouji said, wiping his lips with a tissue. A_t least he's got a sense of table manners_, Ino thought. "Bunshin is good for testing these kids. That's the basic one. Ah, so does Kawarimi. But I doubt your students can pass at all."  
  
Shikamaru directed an irritated glance at him, the proverbial angry vein popped on his forehead. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Hey," Chouji said good-humouredly, tapping a rolled-up tissue on Shikamaru's forehead. It was a teasing gesture from Chouji. "Hey, cool down. I'm just stating the facts, okay? Besides, I heard from my neighbour's boy that 'Shikamaru-sensei teaches us nothing but stare at clouds all day and reflect upon it while sleeping.' What kind of a teacher are you?"  
  
"Hey," Shikamaru replied, waving the tissue away, "quit that. For your information, Chouji, I have my own methods. Besides, don't you remember how much the two us learnt in one sitting?"  
  
Chouji tried to recall, and remembered it. It must have been a fond memory; he smiled like a well-fed cat. "Yeah, I remember. We get to know each other and you told me why you didn't play with those kids. And we chatted about lots of jutsu, your clan's and mine, and how we could trick enemies by combining our jutsu together."  
  
Shikamaru spread his hands as if receiving a gift from above. "Well, what can I say; I'm good at lazing around. Even with lazing around, I could teach you. I'm doing the same to my students, and I think they performed just fine."  
  
"Ino, what about you? Right after the retrieval you've become rather quiet."  
  
She turned at Chouji and was about to open her mouth when the front door curtain, emblazoned with the Kanji DAITETSAKU BBQ, parted to let in a man with only jacket and bandages covering his chest. He caught her eyes and began walking toward their table.  
  
He bowed to each of them respectfully, then asked, "May I join you, seniors?"  
  
Shikamaru scooted to make room for him and briefly glanced at the bandaged chest. His mother was the one who treated this young man back in the hospital. "You should put on something thicker than your own skin, Satoshi. Your wound won't heal swiftly if you walk around half-naked."  
  
Satoshi bowed his head even lower. "I know, Shikamaru-san, but all my shirts are still wet. Please send your mother my thanks for dressing my wounds." Shikamaru nodded. Satoshi turned to Ino. "I learnt from Sakura-san that you two are friends. Why is it I never saw the two of you together?"  
  
Ino ceased playing with her chopsticks. Satoshi noticed this, fortunately, and stopped himself from asking further question.   
  
"I – take it that this is not a good time for such question," he said silently.  
  
"I have to leave," she muttered. Ino dropped the chopsticks, got up and left.   
  
Chouji shook his head as Ino went out. "You, kid, ask the most sensitive question at the worst time." He popped into his mouth a potato chip.  
  
"This is going to be troublesome," Shikamaru said as he got up.   
  
"Where are you going?" Chouji asked. "Who's gonna pay for this?"  
  
Satoshi, feeling responsible for wrecking their meeting, volunteered. "Hey! Good, kid! I like you already!" Chouji exclaimed, slapping a heavy hand on Satoshi's back.  
  
Shikamaru walked out as he heard Chouji ordered another round of beef.  
Hinata looked outside of her window. It was a cool night, with the breeze blowing now and then. It carried the scent of the forest, which was why she often let her windows open at night. Neji often admonished her for this, but since she turned a deaf ear at him, he had ceased bringing up the matter. She guessed it would rain later that night, but it would not matter.  
  
From this window she could see the courtyard, bathed by the light that spilled from the room downstairs. Shadows moved, swift and agile. Now and then a cry was heard, but Hinata merely smiled. She knew her sister and his father were practising downstairs. Although the Chuunin Examinations would not begin in two months' time, her father had insisted on sparring.   
  
From the sounds she judged her father had beaten her sister for about four times in a row now. She recalled the days when _she_ was the subject of her father's 'attention'. Every night, she would go back to bed with sore bones and muscles. She did not even have time to read scrolls because she would drop on her bed and immediately fall asleep.  
  
She became shy and unsure of herself as a result of this merciless training. Her father, each time she fell, defeated, would taunt her with words that should have been unfit for her young ears. Often, her mother would try to interfere but her father would angrily ask her not to. The only thing she could do was to put on balm on Hinata's tired and battered body, and said encouraging words, that it was all for her own good.  
  
She often wondered whether it was an abuse. Looking back and reconsidering everything, Hinata wanted to think that it was done in her best interest, like what her mother used to whisper to her through her weary tears. Her father's army-like drills, unsympathetic and absolutely merciless, had shaped her abilities until they were almost as good as Neji's. Now she was still shy, demure and talked in low tones, but she was no longer unsure of herself. She knew herself, she knew her place.  
  
Thanks to Naruto, of course. Although after the Sasuke incident he was no longer a hero – in fact the meaner part of Konoha Village said he never was – Hinata secretly still adored him. If it weren't for him, Hinata would have never come out as who she was today.  
  
She cast another longing glance outside, toward the dark forest that bordered the village. It looked very tranquil and calm now, with the sound of nocturnal animals and the crickets as its music. Faintly she could hear rain began to pour down, not in torrents but in a slight drizzle.  
  
They said he ran into the forests when it happened. Hinata somehow hoped she would happened upon him during one of her mission, and try to tell him that even after all these things, Naruto was and always a hero. Or even try to talk him into rejoining the village as part of the Leaf. She wondered how he would look like now. She also wondered whether he'd join the notorious Akatsuki group. All the powerful rogue ninjas did.  
  
With a shudder she threw that idea away. Naruto would never join them! She was sure of it! They were too bad for someone as noble and as heroic as Naruto.   
  
_Are you sure?  
_   
She slept uneasily with that question in her mind.  
_ He had promised me everything would be fine.  
_   
Sakura laid her head on the soft pillow and tried to sleep. Already, though, drowsiness overtook her senses, which was fine with her. Her mother left two hours ago after making sure she was right and proper and had taken all of her medicine. She also washed the dishes, which Sakura did not ask her to.   
  
It rained slightly when her mother had left, and still was. The drizzle outside made a calming music, and in her dark room Sakura somehow felt a little relaxed. The pain in her right arm had subsided, partly from the medicine she took just now. The medicine also promoted drowsiness, and in less than three minutes Sakura fell asleep.  
  
When she woke up it was probably almost dawn, because she could not see anything. Even the sky outside was at its darkest and Sakura felt a little bit of fear rise in her throat. Quickly she grabbed a candle she always kept on her end table and lit it with a match. When the flame became a bright beacon she sighed in relief and turned toward the window to close it.  
  
What the candlelight revealed at the window, although briefly, made her fall off the bed and she almost screamed. But she could not scream, because surprise made she lost her voice. The candle fell to the other side of the bed and rolled away from her, leaving her in darkness.   
  
"How – _what_ – **you**…!" was all she could manage after a pause, pregnant with questions she was afraid to ask, as the figure at the window jumped inside as stealthily as a cat.  
  
The candle rolled away a few more feet before it stopped and was lifted up. Soft footfalls moved toward her, while its owner bore the candle. The candle lent a bit of light that outlined the figure's features. Its pallid light revealed a burnished, unkempt blonde head, a pair of blonde brows, blue eyes that had seen more pain than good days, and a beard that made him look ages older. He knelt before Sakura, bringing the candle down with him. He dripped some wax upon the floor and put the candle securely there.  
  
"I see you've gotten the proper medical attention," the figure said, crouching, ready to move at the slightest suspicious sound. His voice, though, was relaxed and conversational. "Glad you're okay, Sakura... _chan_."  
  
Sakura swallowed. Only one soul called her name with that suffix. Everything now came back to her.  
  
The unused explosive kunai-tag…  
  
The explosion she never started…   
  
The yellow streak…  
  
"It was you," she hissed. "_You_ killed Kin."  
  
"I did what I have to do," he replied. "You're a medic jounin now, I see. Are you following Tsunade-sama's steps?"  
  
"You have absolutely no right to say her name," Sakura said. Her fingers crept toward a thin wire hanging unseen, she hoped, by him. "How did you get past the guards? They should be on lookout for you, a missing nin."  
  
She heard a deep rumble coming from his direction. It seemed to be some sort of a laugh, but Sakura was not sure. "I don't come here expecting words of thanks. You still don't know how to acknowledge me, do you?"  
  
"I'd rather see me dead," Sakura spat back. She should feel unsafe with him. But he did not seem dangerous. At this time at least. "How did you find me? What do you want?"  
  
"To see you," he said simply. She could sense a certain amount of emotion in his words that made her feel almost sorry – but this man was dangerous. "Kin deserved what he had."  
  
"And did you?" she asked.   
  
He hung his head. "Don't start, Sakura."  
  
"_You didn't_! You never deserved what you had! Why did you make a promise then failed to keep it!? Why did you do it all?!"  
  
Sakura felt her eyes were stinging with tears. She saw as he took one finger and drove it across one eye, catching the unshed tears on it, withdrew, and rubbed his thumb against it. This time when he spoke, she heard a certain humour in his voice. "You always cry, don't you, Sakura? Even back when we were in the Chuunin exams."  
  
"Shut up," she said bitterly, quickly wiping her eyes and shot him a deadly glance. "I'm different now."  
  
The faint outline of a huge head moved as if in a nod. "You are different now, Sakura. You're stronger. I sensed it in the forest. I sense it now, in you."  
  
"What do you want?" she asked again. "I can summon the whole village to catch you now, and I won't hesitate to do it."  
  
There was a rustle and by the candlelight she saw him; no longer a thin, prepubescent, irritating boy, but a man whose height suddenly dwarfed the whole room. His hand went down to catch her hair and held it almost lovingly; she gasped and withdrew back but did not stop him.  
  
"You would have done it a few minutes ago if you _really_ wanted to catch me," he said forlornly. Only then Sakura realised that the thin wire which was connected to an alarm outside her house had been cut off. Somehow he did that without her seeing him doing so.  
  
She turned to him in time to see a thick smoke in his place. Sakura did not bother to give a chase; he would have gone too far even for her to follow. The only thing left now was the candle and an empty room.  
  
As she sat there she saw the first signs of dawn. In her mind an old haiku reverberated like a bad song:  
  
_

Dawn comes swiftly  
After night's darkness;  
Leaves me wondering. 

_

_A/N: That was long... and I even have the time to think of a haiku. Is the form correct? If any of the readers know and love haiku, I hope mine doesn't offend them... Thanks for the wonderful reviews, guys! I promise to try updating this story as soon as humanely possible now that I realise I have a LOT of datelines to meet!! Maybe I'll hire an assistant! LOL! Please review when you're done reading! I can feel this one's gonna be one hell of a long story!_  



	3. Reasons and Lies

_Author's Note: I apologise greatly! Greatly! I'm caught up in deadly datelines! But enough of datelines for now! Let's read on! And to those who look for a fast ending, I'm sorry to disappoint you: there won't be any. But, if you are a good reader and a writer, inside and/or out, please do the noble thing we all call REVIEW. Arigato..._

CHAPTER THREE

  
  
_ Earlier that night, hours before Sakura's experience_  


He put aside the book and retired to his bed. As he turned off the lights, Kakashi thought back of what he had seen earlier that day. Asuma, after Kakashi had doubted his words, had told him to go to where Sakura had been retrieved a week earlier. He did, with Asuma tagging along. When they got there, they discovered that a few trees had been cut down. A pile of wet logs lay not far down where they stood.  
  
In checking these, Kakashi found undeniable proof of Asuma's words. Seemingly there had been an attempt to burn these logs, but Nature had intervened; it had rained cats and dogs four days after the retrieval. So it was still clear to see: etched upon these cut-down logs were strange marks, almost like brush-strokes that moved in a circular fashion toward a centre.  
  
The unmistakable signs made by the Rasengan.  
  
Though they had also seemed all too familiar to him somehow…  
  
They had left in silence; Kakashi in deep thought, while Asuma in silent triumph.  
  
Now, as he lay in his bed, unable to sleep, Kakashi reflected: those marks were unmistakably of Naruto's jutsu, irresponsibly taught by Jiraiya-sama. Back then the boy almost killed Sakura and Sasuke with it. And then came Sasuke's kidnapping.  
  
Everything simply went downhill from there.  
  
Kakashi closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep. Instead, the logs with the marks came filling his mind. Then he saw Sakura's face when she had been brought into the hospital after the retrieval. He recalled the way Ino stood helplessly at the side of her bed, unable to do anything. Her excitement she displayed to Asuma must have been a ruse to distract everyone from her nervousness watching a friend dying.  
  
Above all, Sakura... He wondered whether she knew.

  
They sat in the empty cafeteria. It was afternoon, and outside, as always, was tranquil and soothingly silent. Kakashi poured tea reverently while the Fifth watched. When her cup was filled, Kakashi waited as Tsunade drunk hers. A pause, then Kakashi sighed.  
  
Tsunade had asked him to meet her today. Her letter that came a day earlier said it concerned Sakura and her recent performance. Kakashi expected a full-face lecture, but instead here he was, pouring tea for the Hokage. And her discussions were nowhere near Sakura's performance:  
  
"I'm rather puzzled with Iruka's – uh, _enthusiasm_," Tsunade began. "He has been taking a lot of missions nowadays, and I mean _a lot_." She consulted a small notepad which she always had in her sleeve. "A month ago, he undertook three missions. Three separate missions in three different villages. And all of them were either B- or A-level missions. Last week, he completed one, with two other missions under his belt." Tsunade flipped it close with a dramatic flair.  
  
Kakashi lifted an inquisitive brow. "He's very driven," he said.  
  
"Driven?" Tsunade put down the notepad gently. "He's not driven; he's a maniac. Do you know what have I been getting? Complaints from his team mates. _Complaints_! Against Iruka! As long as I've been Hokage, that was almost unheard of! And now –!"  
  
Kakashi's eyelid drooped a bit. He knew. Words got spread very fast in a closely-knit village like this. "Maybe it was all the conserved energy he had been saving after all those years teaching young Leafs," he said, trying to make light of the matter.  
  
As soon as he said that Tsunade slammed her fist on the table, gently. But the sound it made upon the strong teak table was as if someone had delivered a mighty blow upon the surface with a huge hammer. From the other end of the cafeteria the cashier stood up and looked around anxiously.  
  
"You know very well," Tsunade said, lifting her fist – that spot was forever slightly dented inward – and pointed a finger at Kakashi, "that that is not the case."  
  
Kakashi eyed the forefinger warily. Her fingernail could poke out an eye without much blood, or so he had heard. "What case?" he asked, getting confused.  
  
"What really drove Iruka into this – these mindless suicidal stunts." Tsunade relaxed her hands and leant back on her seat with a sigh. "I thought I could run a village properly, but as soon I got here everything became hell!"  
  
Kakashi shook his head. "But we made through it all, thanks to your wisdom."  
  
Tsunade let her head fall behind the chair and closed her eyes. "Wisdom? If I had wisdom, none of these would have happened."  
  
Kakashi looked outside with a faraway look in his eye. "Wouldn't it, now?"  
  
Something in his voice made Tsunade lift back her head and look at him. "Are you trying to say, that you had wished that something like this happened?" Her eyes were tiny slits, angry and suspicious.  
  
He shook his head gently. "Tsunade-sama, you and I both had gone through the worst of times before. What did it bring? More bad than good, I agree, but there were still good side of it all. You came back, for example. And Jiraiya-sama is also back. Now we also know that Orochimaru is no longer a great threat to us – to any village, as a matter of fact."  
  
Tsunade let out a short laugh that was demeaning, at least in Kakashi's opinion. "But at what great price. What a great price we paid for all of that."  
  
Both fell silent, their expressions suddenly and almost simultaneously darkened. Slowly, Kakashi recovered his former self and, quite discourteously, poured a cup of tea for himself. Tsunade saw this and did not stop it; both were rather absent-minded at the time. Both were thinking of the same problem, although most probably not on the same vein.  
  
Looking at Kakashi about to drink his tea reminded Tsunade of the true reason she had asked to meet Kakashi. "Sakura created quite a sensation last week, didn't she?"  
  
Kakashi's hand froze in midair, the cup steaming before his face. Finally, he thought. "I'll be frank with you," she continued as Kakashi let the cup down on the table, "I was rather intrigued about this mission of hers. Why did she ask specifically for the mission to hunt Kin down?"  
  
Kakashi ran a finger round the rim. "With all respect, I'm not at freedom to tell you that, Tsunade-sama."  
  
Tsunade's fine brows arched upward. "Well," she said, "this is interesting. I take it she got that mission via your, shall we say, _manipulative involvement_?"  
  
Kakashi's eye betrayed none of his emotions. "That is a serious accusation, Hokage-sama," he said with an even, cool voice.  
  
"You should realise that we should never mix mission with emotion. That is a dangerous combination."  
  
"What about Iruka? Isn't he obviously doing the opposite of what that rule of thumb states?"  
  
"Don't twist my words, Kakashi."  
  
Somehow those sentences made Kakashi's eye hardened with anger, but only for an instant. He quickly caught himself and apologised.  
  
"Well," Tsunade said with a nervous air she expertly concealed – she had never seen the Copy Ninja gone mad, but what had transpired just now was enough reminder – "we'll leave this problem here for the time being. But remember Kakashi, I have my own intelligence, and once I know why you gave her that mission, I'll make sure you get the proper punishment."  
  
Tsunade rose but Kakashi quickly rose after her and asked, "May I ask one thing?"  
  
"Just one question."  
  
Kakashi nodded. He swallowed audibly, Tsunade wondered whether he was going to tell her the reason Sakura got the mission now. "It was Naruto who killed Kin, right?"  
  
Tsunade lifted her chin defiantly. "I have no idea what are you talking about." She turned away. Kakashi lifted a hand, saying, "Don't lie, Tsunade-sama! I know it was him. Who else could it be?!"  
  
Briefly she closed her eyes, then turned to him. "The Anbu reported nothing as such."  
  
"Don't deny it! Ino was in the retrieval team, Tsunade-sama. Out of nervousness seeing Sakura dying, she told Asuma about it all, and Asuma told me. I visited the site yesterday and saw the proof."  
  
She shook her head. "Proof? Of what?" Again she turned to leave, but Kakashi's voice stopped him again.  
  
"I saw the marks on the trees, Tsunade-sama. I _know _them. I _recognise _them. And now, I'll never forget them as long as I live." Kakashi now was standing, one hand hard on the table. "Why are you trying to hide it, Tsunade-sama? What's the real problem here?" Then with a low but feverish whisper he added: "If he saved Sakura, Naruto is back! He is back!"  
  
Tsunade turned to him. "I will tell you this only once. I should have told you about this before Asuma took his own incentive," Tsunade said reflectively. "True, almost all you said was true. And incidentally almost everything that Asuma told you was true. But he missed a point."  
  
"Which was?"  
  
Tsunade moved toward him and whispered something into his ear that made Kakashi froze. Tsunade moved away from him, a satisfied smile lingering on her small, beautiful lips. Yet inside she felt rotten. Was this a smart move?  
  
As she turned and left, he was still standing there, his eye wide open in disbelief. He had totally forgotten about it. Now that was why those marks seemed uncannily familiar.  
  
"Could it be…? It could… but –"  
  
He muttered these all the way home.

  
It was night when they were summoned to the court of Lord Funaki. Inside they were greeted by discreet women-servant, nodding at them as they passed niche by niche. There were five niches in all on each side. Huge columns flanked the sides, and each column had a bright lamp fixed upon. Before them, about fifteen feet away, sat the lord himself. They had crouched at the second niche; now, at the fourth, they all lowered their heads in respect at the lord.  
  
Lord Funaki cast them a benevolent gaze as a servant cleared his go table. Apparently he had just finished the game, and by the looks on his face just now before they all lowered their heads, he had won.  
  
"I trust it your journey has been delayed?" Lord Funaki assumed his official position: legs folded behind him, hands on his silk-covered thighs. "What happened? I expected a speedy assistance – three days ago, yet you tarry."  
  
"We're sorry, Lord Funaki. We've been delayed by several other missions."  
  
Anger was not one of Lord Funaki's better companions, and now he was not angry; he was merely curious. "Missions? I was not informed of this! Aren't you ninjas supposed to carry one mission per group? And what special treatment does it fit that MY mission be left out to the very last minute?"  
  
"We had expected them to be brief, but nothing went as planned."  
  
"It's merely an oversight in our part, my lord. We apologise for any damage we had caused in the hours of our delay, if there be any."  
  
Lord Funaki slowly nodded, looking at the three ninjas before him. _So_, he thought, i_t finally comes to this; calling for outside help. I have forgotten the last time I asked for these guys. _"I will only say this: next time, think out your priorities. And as for damage consequent of your tardiness, there wasn't any." Here his tone changed suddenly. "Yet."  
  
The trio remained very still. Even with the bright lights, they still managed to retain some shadows, as if they would disappear at a moment's notice.  
  
He began:  
  
"Three weeks ago, there was a rumour going around the town. I heard of it myself, and as I did to other rumours I ignored it. Plus there was the annual harvest festival due in about six weeks from then. A week later a group of farmers, whose paddy fields were located a few miles east of the main town gate, stumbled upon a body.  
  
"The body was unrecognisable, but after later examinations it had been confirmed that the unlucky fellow was one of the Kabuki performers who would later join his friends here for the annual harvest festival. Although his loss was lamentable, six more dead bodies turned up all around the city following the first one. All that in a course of three weeks."  
  
"Were they all also Kabuki performers?"  
  
Lord Funaki shook his head. "No. I don't think there was any connection at all. Strange… come to think of it now. The dead ones were in no way connected to each other."  
  
"It's not strange. It's _interesting_."  
  
Lord Funaki turned his glance to the one who spoke those words. Although the tone of this man who spoke just now was a bit too arrogant to be used in his court – or any daimyo's court for that matter – Lord Funaki was not the kind of man easily offended by trivial matters. He would rather save up his energy on something more entirely important – thinking.  
  
"Really? How interesting do you mean?" Lord Funaki asked him with a slight smile.  
  
"We have seven dead people with nothing to link between them, in additional to the fact that they all died in such tight periods in between… that's a very interesting problem."  
  
Lord Funaki nodded accommodatingly. "Yes, yes, interesting isn't it? But I have to remind you that this interesting problem _involves my people who are getting afraid to even go out of their homes_."  
  
The last part of the sentence was said with a certain firmness that each ninja, startled, bowed their heads lower quickly, save for the last one who slowly did the same. "Day by day my people are unable to go about their businesses and by the gods I want this – this maniac caught before this goes out of control!"  
  
His words ended with a slam on the floor. The delicate chrysanthemum in its vase at the far side of the slightly elevated platform where the daimyo sat rattled briefly then was still. Lord Funaki's face was flushed with barely restrained anger, and he looked at the three ninjas before them. They all wore the headband that bore the mark of Konoha Village.  
  
"I've heard of your rather recent conflict," Lord Funaki resumed as he coughed a bit to keep his emotions in check, "in your village. I am happy – always have been – that my town is in good terms with your village. As far as I can see – diplomatically – your village has always been a good model of balance: in life, in combat, in peace, in everything. And even though your village is heading towards a certain clash, somehow you managed to escape it.  
  
"My town is nothing compared to your village. We are ordinary people, living day to day, trying to build a worthy and peaceful town. These matters – crimes, murders – we can handle it if we see the hands that pull the strings. But this – I can't even see where the strings are, let alone the puppets (for who knows? Maybe there are more than one perpetrator here) that are wreaking havoc here. Every morning the guards would pray with joy whenever they didn't find a dead body, or that they themselves are still alive."  
  
The last ninja to Lord Funaki's right lifted his head a little, and a glassy gleam appeared in his eyes briefly before he looked down again, as if hiding it from view.  
  
Lord Funaki closed his eyes and did something a daimyo of his rank and eminence should have not done – he bowed his head to them. "As a person – not as an official – I implore you to help us. This is no ordinary crime, and all of us – the town – are at stake here. We shall be eternally indebted to you should you be able to hunt down this maniac before he strikes again."  
  
The three ninjas looked at each other and the last ninja to Lord Funaki's right said, "The mission has been accepted long ago, Lord Funaki. There is no need to ask for something that you have already received. Please, good sir, lift up your head. We are not worthy of your respect."  
  
Lord Funaki lifted up his head with tears in his eyes. "Thank you," he said shakily.

  
Although it was already late at night, one room in the daimyo's castle was still lit. From outside the sound of pages being turned now and then could be heard. Silence sometimes passed briefly before soft footfalls moved about inside and the pages were turned again.  
  
A shadow of a hand appeared on the screen door. It moved as if to open it, but halted midway when a voice came from inside:  
  
"Please come in, Lord Funaki. You won't disturb me at all."  
  
The screen door opened and there stood the daimyo. "I heard you from the other end of the corridor. You're rather restless."  
  
"I apologise if it woke you up, my lord. Shall I stop so you can go to sleep now?"  
  
Lord Funaki stopped his hands from gathering the papers. "No, it's fine. You're not the reason I can't sleep. I'm always having difficulties sleeping nowadays, anyway."  
  
"I suggest some tea might help you, sir."  
  
"I'm way past believing tea, though it helps sometimes." He glanced at the papers upon the table and the floor, and the rough notes he must have made. There were furious and almost angry, the katakana he had written on them. An empty ink grinding stone stood a safe distance away from it all. "You've ran out of ink. Would you like some more?"  
  
"My lord, I'm fine. I've done writing, anyway."  
  
An awkward silence passed as the daimyo stood between him and the light. Then the daimyo said:  
  
"You've changed, Iruka." Lord Funaki sat down across him and looked at him with deep concern. "You've changed a lot. I almost didn't recognise you when you first came in with your friends."  
  
"They're not my friends," Iruka quickly replied – perhaps too quickly. "And I know it's been ten years since the last time you saw me. I can't help it. I age. Some people I know don't, though. But I'm not one of them."  
  
Lord Funaki felt a bit offended. True, his advanced bloodline, though not readily apparent and not connected with combat abilities at all, gave him the advantage of looking like a youth in his twenties, even though he had celebrated his forty-ninth birthday last winter. "That is not a reason to be angry," Lord Funaki said.  
  
"Then leave me please," Iruka said, the corners of his lips drawn down, and his eyes narrowed as he stared at Lord Funaki, "if you don't like unreasonable people. You know how unreasonable I am."  
  
Lord Funaki merely smiled. Iruka hated that smile. He turned his face away and busied himself with another pile of reports.  
  
"Stop punishing yourself," Lord Funaki said, looking at a closed window. "You have got to move on. This is useless unless you start forgiving yourself."  
  
"What do you know about punishment?" Iruka asked bitterly.  
  
"I know that it has got to stop somewhere along the line," Lord Funaki said as he picked up a new bottle of ink. "I know that punishment is not forever, and that punishment can sometimes be good for the soul. It's like a cleansing agent, flushing out the previous sins and readying the soul for a newer, more divine experience."  
  
Iruka stopped busying himself with the report when he realised it was from a year ago. He turned to Lord Funaki. "You always philosophise whenever you're at a loss of words to combat back my truth. Don't think that although I've changed I don't remember you anymore."  
  
Lord Funaki began grinding the ink in its recess. The ink was already fine the way it was, but he liked doing it. It encouraged thinking. "You're right. I don't have rebuttals for your words. True," he said, taking out a paper, "I never knew the harsher facts of life when I was younger. Now that I do, I was glad my parents had the wisdom which they passed down to me. It always helps this town and me to get over tougher times."  
  
Iruka thought of his own parents and briefly closed his eyes. Everything came back in a rush with that memory, the memory he wanted to discard from his mind but failed, and now it rode upon him like some unseen burden.  
  
"You have no right talking about tough times," Iruka snarled at Funaki whose fingers ceased grinding the ink. "You never knew – never tasted it, experienced it firsthand. You can't even start to imagine the pains someone feel when they see the one they love died in their arms, or before their eyes.  
  
"You never smelt blood, never saw it stain your hands and face and eyes, never tasted it. All you ever did was _strategising_, moving your pawns around the board and never at once give it so much as a glance it definitely was more than worth of receiving."  
  
By now Iruka stared at Lord Funaki who was seated across him with burning eyes. His eyes were on Iruka, but his fingers were moving on the paper, writing furiously away. Those eyes stared at him with sadness and yet at the same time, empathy. The last character written, Lord Funaki's eyes became firm for an instant – as if his gaze suddenly became ice – before it passed.  
  
Slowly Lord Funaki relinquished the brush aside and stood up. Without a word he left the room, leaving Iruka somewhat relieved, but not triumphant.  
  
Almost like a stalemate.  
  
After a long while debating inside his head, Iruka finally decided to look at what Lord Funaki wrote just now. This was written in masculine katakana:  
  


_Pawns of the game --  
Even players strike them  
with deep regret._

"Stalemate," Iruka said without humour. "Definitely a stalemate." 

  
Hinata was on a house errand when she ran into Sakura at the market. "Good morning, Sakura-san," she said, still with that nervous voice of hers. "Shopping for vegetables?"  
  
Sakura nodded, although she did not seem interested in conversing with her. Hinata bit her fingers and turned away with a hasty 'goodbye' and went on shopping for vegetables. Recently, under TenTen's influence, Neji had taken a great interest in Zen Buddhism, which amounted to him eating only vegetables. The house used to always lacking in meat; now it needed more greens than a goat's farm.  
  
She liked going around, shopping for Neji. It was not self-slavery, not at all. She liked doing stuff for him, but she knew where the line would be, and Neji respected her for it. Respect. Such a foreign word to her. It used to be far from her reach. Now, even the fishmonger greeted her. Even the lady at the back who handed change to another customer smiled and said 'good morning to her'.  
  
And the cause of all these things was not even considered a hero anymore.  
  
How can human be so divergent in their thinking? And yet, these divergences of thoughts differ not much from the root of the real reason: fear. They had feared for Naruto before because of the Kyuubi he contained; now they feared him because Naruto did the right thing.  
  
Hinata realised her basket was getting full. Petite even for someone aged 25, the basket was too heavy for her. And now her chest had started hurting. She needed to find someplace to sit down and let it subside somewhat.  
  
There was a bench, but as she neared it the worse her chest pain became. Slowly her vision went to black…  
  
…and Heaven was Sakura. (WHAT? she thought. I thought it would be Naruto-kun)  
  
"…the smelling salts should do enough…"  
  
"Sakura-san, is that you?" Hinata asked dazedly.  
  
"You fainted," Sakura said, as her voice became clearer to her senses.  
  
Obviously she had not yet died. Hinata sat up. She saw she was laid upon the bench she had wanted to sit upon. Then her mind went to her shopping. "Oh no, my vegetables!"  
  
"It's all safe," said another voice behind her. She turned. Aburame Shino held up her basket. "I made a sort of supporter with my bugs to catch it before it was too late."  
  
She smiled at him. She liked the way he looked now. He looked better than he was before. The circle shades was gone, replaced by a streamlined one that seemed more like a mask than a functional sunglasses. He had also ditched the upswept hairdo, sporting a shorter haircut and a small moustache, partially hidden by the round high collar.  
  
"Thank you, Shino-san."  
  
Shino could have smiled, but the collar hid his lips from view. Only the visible moustache moved up in suggestion. "It's okay. Oh, shoot, I have to meet Kiba now. Later, Hinata."  
  
She nodded at her as Shino left. Then she touched her chest and felt a slight pain there, but not that much. "Whew! I was lucky you were close by, Sakura-san. Thanks for this."  
  
"I wasn't," Sakura bluntly said as she gathered her medical stuff lying on the ground about her. "Shino here saw you swaying and like he said, he caught your basket."  
  
"Oh," she said. "Then he called you, I suppose?"  
  
Here Sakura smiled a bit. Her short hair hid her eyes from Hinata, but Hinata deduced that her eyes must have been sad when she said:  
  
"Not before he caught you with his bugs before you fell on the ground." She turned to Hinata, and immediately Hinata blushed. "I never actually knew the Aburame bugs could help like that, but it seemed he did it without affecting your chakra flow at all."  
  
"What are you trying to tell me, Sakura-san?" she asked.  
  
Sakura smiled. "Some things are worth talking later. I see that you keep pressing your hand on that spot," she said, changing the subject. "Was it the one where Neji – well, you know."  
  
Hinata nodded. The hit from Neji's palm ten years ago was still hurting now and then, the only thing which Neji never completely forgave himself. Although it rarely occurred, Neji would be on her side when it began hurting.  
  
They began walking away from the market, the crowd had since long dissipated after Hinata recovered. They began talking trivial things, and Hinata tried to ask Sakura about her recent mission, but she remained tight-lipped about it. Hinata gave up on the subject.  
  
As they came to a junction – Hinata's home to the right, Sakura's to the left – there came a reluctant pause.  
  
"Well," Hinata said as she shrugged her shoulders, "I should be going. Thank you a lot for your help just now, Sakura."  
  
"It's – it's nothing," Sakura replied. "I – well, goodbye now -"  
  
Hinata nodded and began walking away. Just then –  
  
"Hinata!"  
  
She turned. "Yes?"  
  
Sakura seemed to be divided in her thoughts. Finally she said haltingly:  
  
"Naruto came here yesterday."  



	4. A Reason to Live

**_A/Note:_**_ Readers and reviewers alike, you've done a wonderful job; to inspire me! Now I can see where this whole thing is going - although I have a rough frame of it beforehand - and I promise you it will be fun. Although in this chapter I broke a few cardinal rules_ _of the original manga, I hope it somehow fits. Read on and review too, please!_

CHAPTER FOUR

Hinata's already wide eyes became as round as saucers.

Sakura meanwhile cupped her lips. She did not believe she had just said that to Hinata. She would be the worst possible person she could have told, and now she just did. _Dammit, Sakura, don't you ever **try** to THINK before you open your rotten trap!? _

The Inner Sakura was of course the vulgar voice. She was merciless. _Of all the people, why do you have to tell her?! Don't you know who she is?_

Of course Sakura did. Beyond her wildest dreams, Hinata was among the earliest ones who became promoted to be one of the Anbu team after her Jounin examinations three years ago. (Neji had also achieved the Jounin Rank, months earlier, although not as an Anbu.) Although she rarely went on missions because of her health, the ones that she did go were extremely hard, with high percentage of failure and death. Somehow with all these, she had gained the name Calmness. Sakura never had the honour to see her in action, but from word of mouth, Hinata was a force to be reckoned for.

Still now, under the March sun, with the wind catching her super silky hair and one arm still unconsciously rubbing the spot between her breasts, Hinata looked nothing like the word of mouth Sakura had heard of. She looked more like a pure, prudent virgin who had never handled a kunai.

Hinata had dropped her basket softly on the roadside and moved toward her. "What do you mean by that, Sakura-san? You – you met him yesterday?"

Now Sakura was having second thoughts about her previous outburst. And third, and fourth, and so on. "Hinata, I –"

"Did he come to your place? Why – how is that possible?"

"I should go now," Sakura said quickly as she turned away from Hinata. She felt Hinata's hand tried to grab her right shoulder but she moved quickly out of reach and walked on. 

"Sakura-san!" Hinata called, but Sakura ignored her. As she quickened her steps, Sakura felt her legs go numb. It was slow but still she could feel it, and in no time Sakura found herself rendered immobile. _When did she disturb my tenketsu point?_ Sakura thought nervously. Stories she heard about Hinata now became disturbingly clear. Sakura bit her lower lip as Hinata's soft footfalls became audible, closer and closer.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," Hinata said, who appeared in front of her. "I need to know whether you are telling me the truth or simply playing a cruel joke. Now tell me please; did Naruto come here yesterday?"

Hinata was looking at her, almost pleading. Sakura had to be firm; she did not want Hinata to do something impulsive. Slowly she said, "I – no, Hinata, I'm sorry."

Hinata's hopeful face became suspicious. Sakura almost felt sorry she lied, but swallowed the guilt inside. It was like swallowing a horse. Before Hinata could ask further Sakura quickly said: "Really, Hinata, I must apologise. I – I must have been hallucinating. They gave me a lot of drugs for the wounds, and I suppose you knew I was held for over six days at the hospital in a coma. That should be enough to make someone imagine things. Imagine about – well, him."

Hinata nodded slowly as she tapped Sakura's right shoulder apologetically once. "I'm sorry, Sakura," she said. Just as her hand slid away Sakura heaved a big sigh, relieved after being released from the numbing touch. 

_I didn't even feel that before. She must have done it when she tried to touch my shoulder,_ Sakura thought, her eyes on Hinata who was lost in her thoughts. _This is an Anbu? This is Hinata the Calmness? _

Meanwhile, absorbed in her own thoughts. Hinata remembered the time when Neji had defeated her. Following that, she had also been in a coma, and once she had recovered, the drugs made her unable to distinguish between dreams and reality. And all of her dreams were about Naruto. She started to say: 

"I should have not used that move on you, but –"

Sakura shook her head. "It was my fault, anyway. I should've told the truth." _Gosh, another lie_, the Inner Sakura taunted her. "I'm fine, Hinata. Say," she said, ignoring the taunts and trying to wash away her guilt over the lie she had just told Hinata, "why don't I send you back to your home?"

"Really? But, Sakura, it's far from your home!"

"It's nothing," Sakura said, while in her mind the Inner Sakura continued to taunt her: _Besides, you're lying through your teeth TWICE and need to make it up to her._ "It's been quite a while since I had a good walk around the village. Besides, I have to see Satoshi."

"Oh," Hinata remarked. "Thanks." As they went back to the junction and began walking, her arms wound around Sakura's, Hinata asked in a whisper: "Why didn't you imagine about Sasuke instead?"

Sakura hoped to the gods that Hinata didn't feel her whole body froze for a second. "Well," she replied in a nonchalant manner, "he's always been there for me, you know. Maybe that's why." 

And as they walked in silence, both thought how true that statement was. Quickly, though, they began talking about each other.

****

"Iruka-senpai, stop it."

Iruka was possessed. He lifted his hand that had a small disc and let it fall upon the man's back. He let it run on the skin and the man began screaming his throat out. There was only one light in the room; focused on the man's face without revealing his tormentors. 

And Iruka continued to run the disc down the captive's back, pressing it as he did so. In the darkness, his eyes were unseen, but Kiba could smell his bloodlust, his madness. The disc is a smooth metal on the upper side, but its lower side has a multitude of tiny teeth. Each is no smaller than a sliver of the fingernail, and sharper than a medical scalpel. Kiba had to grit his teeth when the captive screamed again and again.

Earlier this morning, Kiba had been making rounds with Akamaru. At the town gate he had spotted a suspicious man. He had a sack on his back and was making his way hurriedly through the gate. Wondering why the town gate guard did not sound the alarm, Kiba had followed the man to a small clearing not far from the main road that leads back to the town gate. In silence, Kiba and Akamaru observed the man's movements while making some preparations, completely undetectable.

He went to and fro between the sack and the heart of the clearing. Finally under the dawn light the content of the sack was revealed.  
  
It held a guard's unconscious body. _So, that's where the gate guard had been all along_, Kiba thought. Also, Kiba noticed with interest that there was some sort of lines drawn into a circle on the ground. As the man placed the naked, unconscious guard in the middle of the circle, Kiba instructed Akamaru to stick an explosive note on the man's path while he readied himself to spring, with a kunai between his teeth. Akamaru did his job stealthily and quickly moved away when the man saw him, passing off as a stray dog.

Angered by the dog's presence, the man shooed him. Akamaru refused to move, and the man quickly moved toward him, stepping upon the explosive note which sent him flying about five feet in the air. Only then Akamaru moved away. Kiba quickly grabbed the unconscious guard and instructed Akamaru to carry him back to the village.

When the man recovered, he saw Kiba and rushed to him madly, which made things easier for Kiba. He waited until the man tripped upon a trap he had set and the trap did its job, snaring the man in a net. He then had the man hauled back to the daimyo court.

Now he regretted it somewhat. Not that he was against torture, but this was too much, even for the animal inside Kiba. His feet felt sticky with blood flowing from the captive's back. In the small room the stench of acrid blood was almost unbearable. Akamaru had long left, and so did Mai, the other ninja who was along in this mission. 

"Will you tell me why should I stop?" Iruka asked him.

"That's enough for today," Kiba said. "Besides, there are other ways to make him talk."

"And I suppose you know how?"

"Iruka-senpai, although you are older and wiser than me it doesn't mean that you know everything," Kiba said angrily. "There are other methods to make him talk. Bloodletting him to death only makes things irresolvable."

"Then I suggest you try it, Kiba-_senpai_," Iruka said with the deepest scorn. He threw the disc with a loud splat on the captive's body. The disc stuck there for a moment, then fell off his back, like some metal leech. 

No more scream was forthcoming. Either the captive had passed out or died Kiba did not know, but he hoped that this man could hang on for a little more while. Iruka was out, signalled by the blinding flash of light that lit up the foul room. For a moment Kiba saw Iruka as he had never been: heartless, maddened by anger and distant. Blood covered half of his face, which he wiped clean with a cloth handed to him without any emotion. 

The door closed, and Kiba was left with more fear than ever. Fear, not of Iruka, but _for_ Iruka. 

****

"I'm sorry, Mrs Inuzuka," he said, bowing again and again. He had entered the compound while Mrs Inuzuka was training her dogs, and felt very intrusive. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Shino. Besides, I should have hit Kiba in the head before going off to missions without informing me first. Can you believe the nerve of that boy? He accepted a mission without consulting his own mother first! Hush, Yayoi!" She quickly slapped the nuzzle of a huge husky who had begun snarling at Shino. It quickly whined afterwards.

Shino grinned. "Well, Mrs Inuzuka, I have to go, then. I think Kiba did tell me about this mission, but I didn't realise he was already gone so soon."

Mrs Inuzuka sighed as she rubbed the furs of the huge husky. "Kiba is a lot like his father. Men are fools, no offence to you Shino. Whenever they want your help, they'd be around until you feel stifled, and when you want them to help, they'd be gone in seconds. It was nothing, really! I asked them when will they repair the roof and the next thing you knew both were gone."

Shino nodded accommodatingly. "I should be going, then," Shino said. 

Mrs Inuzuka nodded her consent and returned to her dogs that began yapping for attention.

Shino wondered as he travelled down a small backstreet. Did Kiba join Iruka's mission? If he did, he had better be prepared. Shino himself had firsthand experience of Iruka's relentless pursuits. He was driven to the edge of madness in finishing missions. It was a good quality to have in any ninja if it were not tainted with almost a hint of madness. 

Whenever somebody changes almost in an overnight, people will start yakking. Then, from yakking, it will change into stories. From stories it will almost certainly mutates into impossible stories, which would remain impossible if not for the small facts that deemed its validity. In Iruka's case it would have seemed that his change of attitude and descent into what others claimed to be gradual madness had been caused by one thing that had two words: Uzumaki Naruto. 

Ten years seemed to Shino a very short time. The marks were still there, and nowadays people avoid it if they could, saying that even remnants of evil chakras remained there, corrupting anyone who as much pass the spot.

Shino had tried and failed to become corrupted. There you go. Another bad legend.

This spot lie between the great walls of Konoha Village and the area which used to be the Sound Village. The fight ten years ago had removed the village from history and erased it from the map. Although so, threats still abound. The residual, die-hard followers of the Sound Village still lingered, and now and then there would be an odd attack which would be credited to these residual members and followers.

While doing his missions, Shino often came across bad guys who posed as Sound Nins and realised how much the Sound Nins were demonised nowadays. Although the Sound Nins themselves were really evil when there used to be the Sound Village – and Shino was no Sound sympathiser – the impostors were nothing compared to the real thing. They could have been killed by mere village folks if not for them claiming to be Sound Nins. That was effective to put fear in people.

Shino made a turn when he realised he had come to the village centre. He was going to see Rock Lee in the Centre for Taijutsu Learning today, since Kiba was not at home. He needed to see someone concerning his problems, and since Kiba was not available, Rock Lee would do just fine.

****

"Hanabi!"

"Yes, Neji-nii-san!"

Neji quickly grabbed hold of her wrists and attempted to throw her down. To his surprise, Hanabi made a horizontal twirl in his mid-throw that loosened his hold and quickly spun in the air, directing a solid foot at his head. Neji didn't have the time to turn and the foot connected, throwing Neji off balance and onto the ground. Faster than Neji could react, Hanabi was over him, her palm stretched outward on Neji's heaving chest. 

She was breathing heavily, as did Neji. _That could have been a direct hit and damaged my whole system,_ Neji thought with pleasure. _I don't sense her chakra turned on, though_. He smiled as Hanabi moved away from him, pulling back the outstretched palm and grabbing his hand to aid him standing. 

"That was great, Neji-nii-san!" Hanabi said enthusiastically. "Is there any time left for another spar?"

Neji looked at the sun; they were sparring outside, under the protection of a huge oak tree. Their house looked very small from this tiny hill. "I think that's enough for today, Hanabi-chan."

"Hey, I'm not a child anymore! Don't call me like that."

Neji only smiled. Hanabi was Hinata's direct opposite, and that was why he liked her enough to spar with her. Hanabi was eager to learn and a fast learner at that, which made things easier between them. Just now she defeated him, and Neji once thought that that could never happen to him.

No, never… until Naruto happened on him. That guy taught him about defeat, about the fluidity of destiny, about other people, and ultimately about forgiveness. Neji had never spared these matters a glance before Naruto opened his eyes. And that had opened Hinata's eyes, too, who had strived to be where she was today. 

When Naruto disappeared on a self-imposed banishment, Neji was one of the people who tried to stop him. It did not work, obviously, because he was not the person that should have stopped him. How can you stop someone from going when you don't have enough wisdom in yourself to do so? 

Neji thought he heard someone at the other side of the small hill. Making a silencing gesture at Hanabi, he pulled her aside. The tree was tall enough to be climbed and yet with thick foliage enough to hide the two of them, especially the long and lean Neji. Just as then voices began to float to them.

"… never did that to me. But he's an okay guy if you get to know him real good."

The other laughed briefly. "I don't think he's that good. Just look at him when he watches people. It's like he wants to eat them whole."

"Neji always have that look about him, but he's a good guy. Believe me –"

"ATTACK!!!!" 

With that loud scream Neji jumped off the branch on which he had remained hidden, and so did Hanabi. Neji jumped onto Sakura, while Hanabi jumped onto her sister. 

"_Neji-nii-san_!" Hinata shouted as her basket fell away while the weight of her younger sister pulled her down. "Hanabi! What are you two doing?!" Turning to Sakura with concern, she realised that Sakura did not need any. It was the other way around.

Sakura was looking at her fist, then at the man on the ground in stupefied disbelief. Neji was lying on the ground with his hands covering his nose. "By dose," he moaned through his hands that cupped the nose. Blood had begun trickling down the side of his cheeks. "By tamed dose!"

****

"Neji-nii-san, have your nose stopped bleeding?"

Neji nodded while looking upward. His nose was stuffed with two tissue rolls. Hanabi made fun of it endlessly while Sakura placed a steady finger on the wide bridge of his long, fine nose. She touched it, pressed it, and finally when Neji was about to scream in frustration, she released her finger and said, "Your nose is okay, Neji-san. It's not broken."

"Felt like you did just then," he said, finally looking at Sakura who sat before him. "Ugh. It still stings. Why did you have to hit me so hard?"

"It's your fault," Sakura said. "You shouldn't have done such a childish thing to us, not to mention an Anbu and a medic who happens to know how to concentrate her chakra when and where it is needed the most."

"Fine, fine. And stop calling me –san. I'm young enough to be your husband," Neji said as he stood up and stretched his long frame. Sakura had the grace to blush; Neji was touted as one of the most eligible bachelor in Konoha Village after… well, after ten years ago. He turned to Hinata and peeked into her basket, sniffing. "I hope you bought lots of haddock for dinner, Hinata."

"Smoked haddock, Neji-nii-san," Hinata replied confidently. "I bought it just in case you decided to become human again." Neji turned to her with a surprised look.

"You know that, too?"

"Hanabi told me," Hinata replied with a smile and a quick nod. 

"Oh really?" He stood up and turned to the teenager. "Think you're smart, Hanabi-chan?"

"Don't call me that!"

Neji grinned. "Come on, Hanabi, I'll race you to – "

Both had disappeared before Sakura and Hinata could blink their eyes. Only dust remained behind. Sakura let out a short laugh. "Well! I'll never. Neji, making pranks, and stranger still, on you! Is he dying?"

Hinata got up as she gathered her basket while Sakura moved in to help. "He's changed a lot since – ten years ago. When he left, it was like Neji became a kite without its guiding string. While my father feared that Neji would slip deeper into depression and do something harmful to us, or worse, to himself. Somehow… he didn't."

Sakura placed the last leafy vegetable inside Hinata's basket. "What happened? What did he do, then?"

Hinata turned to her and shrugged, but her face was beaming. "One day he came to our home and demanded an audience with my father."

Sakura was surprised. She considered herself as rather widely informed, but this particular news was new to her. "I'm sure I never heard of that before, Hinata."

"The whole Hyuuga clan was gathered that day, but not a word was to be said about this meeting, which was why you didn't know about it. In fact, nobody outside of the Hyuuga clan except for the Hokage herself knew." 

Hinata started to walk and unconsciously Sakura followed her. "Well, after the clan members were gathered, Neji stepped forward and did something no one could have suspected coming from him:

"He took off the Konoha headband, revealing the seal of 'Bird in Cage' to everyone there, and, turning to my father, he knelt and began saying:

" 'For as long as I have lived, sir, I have been living with the impression that I am no more than a secondary member of this clan, an inferior tool used only when danger comes to the main family, a servant whose sacrifice is expected of him even when he is not willing. Even if I tried to be the best, and when I did get recognised as the genius of this clan, I never felt... _peace_. Living under such impressions, I have become what you all see me today; a bitter, cold man who hates the main family to the extent of almost killing its successor, Hinata-sama.

'But after recent events, I realised how much chance has been presented to me in ways I couldn't see before because I have been blinded by my self-taught inferiority. Those chances are long gone now, sir, and although I regret their loss, I am not by any means out of redemption. I still have another chance, a final one. 

'So, before I lose that chance again, here I am today to offer myself and the main family a chance to mend this familial tie. We are one family, sir; I am your brother's offspring, and Hinata-sama is my sibling, as you were my father's sibling. That is an undeniable fact. Let what had happened, once, long time ago, be not repeated in the future, sir. 

'My offer to you is my lifetime service to the main family, and in return, I hope that the main family protects the branch family as much as it would to the other. The main family is the main family, and the branch family is the branch family. But, sir, aren't we all of the Hyuuga clan, every one of us? And more importantly, aren't we all ninjas of the Leaf? Leafs grow together in spring, and so would Leafs fall together in autumn. That is the way we all should be, sir.

'That is my offer and demand, sir. Should you choose to deny it, I understand, and will leave the clan forever. I will never set my foot in the Konoha Village because I am ashamed to be in a clan that claims to be the noblest clan in this village; yet, do not follow its first rule. Should you –'

"Neji never finished those words then, because Father rushed up from his seat and hugged Neji bodily then and there, saying that he would accept his conditions and offers no matter what. I've never seen Father so – so emotional that day." Hinata smiled at the memory. "He has always been a cold, distant man, pretty much like Neji before that day. Now I find him ginning every morning on the sparring field, sparring with Hanabi and Neji. But whenever outsiders arrive Father would put on his cold demeanour, just for the sake of it. He couldn't afford to look goofy in front of other people."

Sakura turned to Hinata, whose eyes shone with happiness. Those grey-white eyes had never been so full of joy before, and Sakura found it odd to see such emotion inside them. Once again she looked to the direction of the great walls of Konoha, whose tips could be seen amongst the thick green canopies from where they walked upon. 

But she was not looking at them. Her mind's eyes were looking beyond the walls, beyond the thick forests of the Fire country, trying to pierce its unyielding greenery.

Trying to find Naruto.

_Naruto, if only you knew how many lives you've touched here…_

****

Lee was trying to put back a scroll on a high shelf when a hand suddenly took it from his and placed it properly there. "There," said the owner of the hand, "that's done."

Lee turned. Shino stood before him. "Afternoon, Shino."

"Hi, Lee-san. I was wondering whether you care to have the afternoon tea with me."

"What's the occasion?" Lee asked as he hobbled toward a table laden with scrolls. "I have students coming in about an hour."

"Don't you take afternoon breaks?" Shino asked him.

Lee stared at the table and suddenly smiled at Shino. "Well, why not. But you're paying."

Shino nodded as Lee got up and walked to his side. "I was afraid you'll say that, but what the hell. Come on." 

They went down at the canteen and asked for a round of fresh rice cakes and steaming hot jasmine tea. They chatted idly for some time before Shino decided to get to the point. 

"Lee, do you remember – well…" His voice dropped down a notch, became a whisper. "Do you remember Sasuke?"

Shino had anticipated the reaction; Lee's eyes widened and he directed a dangerous glance at him. "Why do you ask?" he whispered back. "You know very well that he's forbidden to discuss."

"I have to," Shino said. "You may very well remember that I once had tracked him down using only his chakra, right?"

"It was during the Leaf-Sand wars, yes." Lee nodded. "Sakura had told me once."

"Well, it so happens that once my bugs recognise the chakra, some remembered it for life and passed the knowledge down to their children. Mine are like that."

"Do I have to listen to the whole lecture about bugs before you're going to tell me what are you going at?" Lee asked bluntly.

"Fine." Shino sighed. "In my missions I often stumbled over a few places where my bugs would suddenly begin making small groups outside of my body – I mean on the ground, on a tree, anywhere except in my body – and stayed there for a few hours. At first I didn't know what to make of it, but when it happened last week, in a hotel room in this neighbouring town, I asked the hotel owner about the previous lodger. He didn't only give me a good description, he even gave me this."

Lee saw as he pulled out a video tape. "Do you have a video tape player?" Shino asked.

"We have one in the rec room. Come on."

His excitement growing with each passing minute, Lee finally sat down in the rec room after locking the door behind him. Shino had already switched on the VCR player and inserted the video. The TV screen flickered to life and it showed a hallway. A figure came from below the camera view and showed only a head full of black hair. The figure went in and closed the door. Shino fast-forwarded it and then played it at normal speed when the door reopened to let its occupant out. He froze the screen quickly.

Lee's mouth hung open with astonishment. 

Uchiha Sasuke was glaring at them from within the recording, with those unmistakable Sharingan eyes. But that was not only the thing that shocked Lee. 

The eyes had three commas concentrated at each pupil. 

_To Be Continued..._


	5. The Thick Curtain

CHAPTER FIVE

_A/N: Well, I'm getting mixed reviews! That's a good motivator if you ask me. d_scribe noted that I've stretched this story for too long that I managed to drain its juices and suggested that I'd go home. I'm not mad at you, d_scribe, in fact, thanks for pointing that out. I always seem to let anything go about by itself, pretty much like letting a toilet roll falling down a long road and leave it to roll down by itself. And also, that the story is getting too long to be read. Okay. This time it's short. Enjoy!_

_p/s: for d_scribe (if you're reading) this chapter and the proceeding paragraphs is dedicated for you. _

  
He was still running. Night had fallen, and the once pristine forest now had become a field that determined his life or death.  
  
"For chrissakes!" he muttered even as his breath caught in his throat. "What the hell was that?!"  
  
He felt blood run into his eyes and wiped it off, almost forgetting the wound on his forehead inflicted earlier. He never saw anything like that before. Being a merchant, he had had his share of highway thieves, bandits and missing-nins. This… this was nothing like before.   
  
Suddenly he felt his legs gave way underneath him, and darkness filled his sight. He bit onto the skin between his forefinger and thumb to restrain himself from shouting, even as he fell down the hole. When he hit the bottom it took a while to get his bearings back. Then he realised that the hole was not that deep. He could stay in here until morning, then run back to Yukihama town and tell the authorities about this. With this thought the current predicament was somewhat forgotten, and closed his eyes.  
  
He was not sure whether he had fallen asleep or simply because time moved too fast, but when he reopened them, the dark sky had turned bluish, and the stars were fading. Smiling with joy he reached up and pulled himself out of the hole.   
  
"Thank goodness. Now I can run safely back to Yukihama," he said to himself. Turning, he broke into a run –   
  
- only to run into someone, who must have been standing behind him silently because he did not realise his presence there before. "Where are you going?" said he.  
  
"YOU!" the frightened man said. He wanted to leap back away, as far as he could, but the other man held him closer, as if in a bear hug. "YOU – ack!!" Slowly, even as life seeped away from him, he saw the skies and they were still dark and full of stars.   
  
_What the… genjutsu!? _he wondered briefly before another sharp pain stopped his thoughts. "_Damn…!_"  
  
"Shh… not so loud… you'll wake _him _up."  
  
And he twisted the scalpel deeper and harder, watching with blank eyes as Doi Shiga, 39-year-old male merchant from Yukihama, single and previously healthy, gave out a death rattle and slid off from his shoulders and away from existence.   
  
The moon had just begun to ascend from his cradle when he began incising the man's body into neat parts. There was no blood; not anymore, anyway, because he had drained them away earlier, but not throw it away. Nothing was wasted; the lines on the stony ground were drawn from blood.  
  
After taking the skin apart he started to carve out the organs and laid them out systematically on a massive slab of stone. If seen from above, the lines join to become a square, with arcane scripts running down both sides of the square, also done in blood. Inside it, the organs – lungs, heart, spleen, brain and eyes – were arranged at the four tips of the square that were oriented to the four main directions, with the exception of the brain. It was put in the middle.   
  
The moon was fast rising, but the man – his hair was greyish under the pale moon – sat still, motionless and waiting.   
  
Three hours later, with the moon directly overhead, he stood up and stepped into the square and stood over the brain and whispered inaudible words, while his hands made hand seals faster than the common eyes can see. The seals lasted for fifteen seconds when the square began to glow with an eerie inner red light. It seemed something from underneath the ground was trying to get out because the surface of the huge slab of rock was trembling horribly.  
  
Then he said loudly:  
  
"Part-seal, _kai_!"  
  
From nowhere a strong wind began to blow. He stood firm, retaining the last seal his fingers had made the best he could. This was the most critical part in this forbidden jutsu. Release the seal, and everything will be for naught.  
  
The square was now shining with a strange shade of red, highlighting each of the organs before they disappeared, starting with the heart and followed by the spleen, the eyes and finally the lungs.   
  
The wind blew even stronger. This time, it contained blood instead of air. It swirled about the man, faster and thicker. Some went splat on his face, his clothes. Some even blinded his eyes. He did not even flinch. The last seal his fingers made was still intact.   
  
Finally the square ceased to glow. The blood-wind died out and fell around him. But it was not the end.   
  
"Part-seal, seal!" he shouted, and quickly moved away and out of the square, but not before placing some sort of a container upon where he had stood.  
  
This time the brain under him began to glow. Along with it the words that ran down on each side of the square glowed, too. Slowly four lines began to form from the tips and arched inward into the small container. As the moon began his descent, the red, fine lines began lessening in luminosity and strength. Finally the lines disappeared.   
  
He gingerly stepped into the square and took up the container. Under the light of the breaking dawn, one could see that it was a small iron kettle. Quickly he took out some _fuda_ and stuck them onto the cover. It glowed briefly before it became still. He put it in his backpack and walked off. There was no cleaning needed. The whole justu had consumed everything.   
  
"Pig, complete," he said. "Next is the Monkey."  
  
  


***

It was 10 in the morning.   
  
Tsunade sat down facing Kakashi, also seated, in her office. Both seemed calm, and Tsunade took the first plunge.  
  
"You're late, as usual. Please don't make this a habit whenever meeting me, Kakashi."  
  
"Sorry, I met a lost doggie and I happened to know the owner, so I decided to send the little fella to the other side of the village and then –"  
  
Tsunade reached for an envelope opener that looked suspiciously like a scalpel and Kakashi decided to shut up, period. She said as she reached for an envelope and opened it with the gleaming metal device: "Save it. I have no time to listen to your weak explanations." After reading the contents, Tsunade added: "I know, Kakashi."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"No need to play dumb. I know now how you managed to let Sakura have the mission. I only want to know why."  
  
Kakashi sighed. "Very well. The truth is, the village where Kin had massacred the children used to be Sakura's village for some time. Her family moved to Konoha Village when she was four years old to let her study in this academy."  
  
"Sentiment is not an excuse to commit this errant conduct, Kakashi."  
  
"Did you remember how the news of this matter came to your knowledge?"  
  
Tsunade gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Wasn't it Satoshi who informed you about Kin?"  
  
Tsunade slowly nodded. "What of it then?"  
  
"He learnt of it from _Sakura_."  
  
Her eyes slowly widened in surprise. "Are you lying to me?"  
  
Kakashi's uncovered eye stared back at Tsunade in a sort of weary earnestness. "Didn't you want the truth? I'm telling you now, and you doubt me."  
  
"It's because you lied to me before."  
  
"It's the truth. You can look at the report details afterward; it's there amongst the COMPLETED box," he pointed it out to a box that lay on Tsunade's left-side. "I guess that was why somehow you had had your worries and qualms when I let Sakura handle the mission. It's like flipping through a book; you remember certain words and forget the rest, but the important ones remain."  
  
She _does_ have that habit, although this can be blamed upon the piling paperwork every day which she had to face. "And that bothered me until today." Tsunade turned her gaze outside as a soft knock at the door somewhat interrupted their conversation.   
  
Tsunade called to whomever that was to come in and the person entered. She turned out to be Shizune who carried with her a tray of teapot, steam escaping barely through its tightly shut lids, some rice cakes, and two warmed cups. Feeling as if she had intruded, she finished pouring their tea into respective cups and left quietly.  
  
"Hmm. If that's the way it was, then I think even I couldn't have stopped her," Tsunade said. She was in no way trying to save herself; Tsunade knew for a fact that if Sakura feels strongly about something, she will pursue it relentlessly. "She was the one who first learnt about the terrible news, eh?"  
  
Kakashi nodded. "She did so, from the worst possible person – a childhood friend who had lost her son and daughter – twins – and was forced to see it as Kin butchered the children."  
  
Tsunade shook her head in despair. "Why did they leave their children alone? It's already dangerous as it was!"  
  
Kakashi nodded. "True, but the village was one of those where no crime ever happened. Nothing major like this one, save for petty thefts. This was totally unexpected. And although they did leave two men to guard the village, these men had gone off hunting that day."  
  
Tsunade fell into silence. Kakashi stayed silent, too, waiting patiently.  
  
"You may go, Kakashi," she said after a while. "But next time don't repeat this mistake. You cost us precious lives and manpower that time, and I don't mean that money-wise. I don't want to lose more good shinobis this way."  
  
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." He stood up and bowed before left silently. Tsunade watched as the door closed behind him and then at the cup opposite hers. She wondered;  
  
"Is it because Shizune made the tea or he simply won't suffer to open that irritating mask to just drink?"  
  
She smiled at herself, then slowly her happy mood fell as her fingers wrapped themselves around a necklace. Tsunade stared at it and began to lose herself in memories.  
  
_ I want to become Hokage!  
  
I want to protect my people!  
  
I don't care if the person is a woman! I will KICK HER ASS!  
  
Become a good man… and a respectable Hokage…  
  
Tsunade-sama… I no longer am able to wear this necklace with dignity. I have broken my own rule and in doing so, my promise to you and the people of Konoha Village.  
  
I am no longer a Leaf Shinobi. _  
  
Tsunade forced herself to stand up, trying to drive away the memories. But as she did so, she was standing at the window which opened up to the village and the green woods surrounding the village, save for one spot, which can be seen especially from here, in this office.  
  
_ I can no longer be Hokage.  
_  
"You fool," Tsunade muttered to no one in particular. "Why did you have to go that far to save him? In the end, the saviour becomes the monster."  
  
Tsunade turned away from the window. She had decided now and then that the window needed a good thick curtain.  


_To Be Continued... _


	6. Strange Reason to Smile

  
CHAPTER SIX 

STRANGE REASON TO SMILE 

"We've confirmed it: It's a ritual." 

Iruka sat reading the contents of a small envelope as Kiba and Mai stood before him. They had just returned from the town morgue this noon – one of the few for some hundreds of miles radius – checking up the bodies that had been the unfortunate targets of the serial killer. 

Mai, a fresh Chuunin, began: "Multiple organs had been removed, and there was no blood when the morgue people came round the scene. However the morgue officials did not see anything suspicious. It seemed to have been drained from those bodies for ritual purposes. Also, all these people had been born in the vicinity of the third and fifth moon. It fits the bill of a summoning jutsu." 

Iruka stood up, nodding to himself. "I've been wondering how long I should keep silent about the whole thing." 

Kiba and Mai looked at him, puzzled. "You _knew_?" Kiba asked, exasperated, when he realised what his senior meant. "Then, why –" 

"I knew what the whole thing was, and why it happened. I sent you all on this only to confirm my theory. And other than that, the people at the morgue won't let me in. But that's another story," he added when Kiba moved to ask. "Mai, good job. Kiba, I would like you to see to the captive is released. He is not the maniac we're looking for; rather, he's only a tool. He was only a decoy for the real perpetrator to occupy our sights while he did his job." 

"I – I don't see…" Mai said. "Then you've sent us on a wild goose chase!" 

"It was a necessary goose chase," Iruka replied. "Besides, you learnt more of the ways of this maniac, didn't you? The birthdates are new to me." 

"You said 'while he did his job'. Wasn't all those people he had killed was his entire _job_?" Kiba asked. 

Iruka shook his head, the ponytail behind his head moving slightly. "The captive below really had nothing to do with the murders; he was merely a puppet. After being placed under this very strong genjutsu, that poor fella wandered about and killed systematically. This was so that the whole thing looked like the work of a serial killer, which it was. 

"The common idea behind such plan is that when this decoy is caught and the arrest made public, everyone will relax their guards. While the real perpetrator laid in the background and waited for the right person to appear. And, unfortunately, he did appear this morning." 

"He was killed?" asked Mai. "He was killed, right?" 

Iruka nodded and gave the papers he had read to Kiba, who devoured the contents with wide eyes. "It happened this morning, in the bordering woods. Some women went out for mushrooms and found only skinless body. Carefully skinned off, done just like a fine taxidermist. His head was the only thing that remained intact, though the brain was removed." 

Kiba gave the papers to Mai. "I understand now, Iruka-senpai. No wonder you hit the captive like hell. His blood was tainted by the genjutsu. You were cleaning his blood off the hallucinatory substances." 

Iruka nodded. "Yep. One of that report you have, Mai, is the result of the analysis I sent earlier to Lord Funaki's medical jounins. From the blood texture and scent, they confirmed the presence of hallucinatory combinations of herbs in his blood. It's a kind of drug-aided genjutsu, one that needs nearly inactive participation from the user and only the drugs to do its job." 

"But this genjutsu must be of a very high level!" Kiba exclaimed. "It must be very chakra-consuming. To be able to control someone from far and selectively killing people… this must be a very skilled person indeed." 

"Or a shinobi," Iruka added, his voice deep and certain. "Lord Funaki's medical jounins (he had hired them to handle the morgue) told me yesterday that the complexity of the herbs combination presented quite a challenge, and that no ordinary person can mix them without getting a disastrous result. Except for a highly trained shinobi." 

Kiba and Mai stood silently before Iruka. "We let him get away," Mai sighed in despair. "We let that monster get away by letting him fool us." 

"True," Iruka said, moving to the screen door, "but we have him on the run now. Cheer up," he said to them, which truly shocked Kiba and Mai. "We'll get him next time." 

When Iruka was long gone, Kiba asked her, "Did I hear him correctly? Did he say, 'Cheer up'?" 

Mai nodded her head, still in disbelief. 

---@---

"You're awfully cheerful." 

Iruka looked at Lord Funaki. They were sitting in the game room overlooking a beautiful garden. Somewhere a bamboo pipe fell onto a stone and the beautiful sound it produced echoed briefly before became lost in the cool, late evening breeze. Grinning, Iruka carefully placed his piece of the Japanese chess on the board spread before them on a low table. At either side a cup of fragrant tea sat still and steamed slightly. 

"I have the right to be." 

Lord Funaki watched as Iruka drew himself back after placing his piece. Thinking while talking was something he had perfected into an art form. "But you didn't catch the culprit at all. If I were in your shoes, I don't think I should feel happy. I would start looking and hunting him down. Or _her_ down, whichever that is." 

He saw an opening and attacked, placing his knight there and continued staring at the board for a while more, as if trying to undo the previous move. 

Iruka sipped the tea. "Let me remind you that this was your idea." 

Eyes still on the board, Lord Funaki asked: "Can't I do it?" 

"Well, of course you can, but when the host begins to question his guest in the manner you just did, I don't think that it's – polite." 

Finally deciding that that move was the best, Lord Funaki's eyes moved to meet his. "What is it, then?" 

"Truthfully? I think you're interrogating." 

Lord Funaki leant back. "I'm merely curious as to why you're so cheerful after you failed a mission. An A-rank mission, I must add." 

Iruka gave out a short, horse-like laugh. "Funaki, my dear friend, how long have you known me?" 

"Ten years, maybe more." 

"Then," Iruka said, as he placed his piece on the board, "you don't know me really good." He got up and bowed to him. "Thanks for the game; I've enjoyed it very much. And as for the mission, it's not over yet." 

As Iruka left the room Lord Funaki glanced at the board. He smiled slightly. After ten years of his acquaintance with Iruka, this was the first time Iruka had caught him in a stalemate. 

---@---

He felt like walking that night, so Iruka roamed the town. Preparations were being made to celebrate the annual Harvest Festival, and the town was alive with happenings and people. Children gathered around game booths with their parents, as some begged to have a nice candy stick or delicious rice balls. Their high-pitched voices filled the air, and so did the balloons. Iruka had placed his headband in his pocket, not because he feared to be discovered, but because he wanted to be ordinary people, just for tonight. 

Iruka spied a stall at the junction before him and entered it. Two people were leaving, and bits of their conversations floated to his ear: 

"… it's the greatest!" 

"Yeah… this place…" 

"Let's come here again sometime! ..." 

"Sure, if you foot the bill…" 

"What? I paid for us too just now!" 

Iruka's eyes had drooped a bit and he was about to turn away when the voice of the stall owner stopped him. "Come on sir! We make the best ramen in this town! You won't regret it; in fact you'll remember it for the rest of your life!" 

He stood still, uncertain, then to the owner's relief, he sat down and looked at the menu. "Give me two bowls of it with everything in it." 

"Two, sir? Are you expecting someone?" 

"No." 

"Then I suggest you'll have a big bowl so you can have two ramen in it," the man said cheerfully. 

Iruka looked up at the man, his eyes now thin slits filled with brown-black pupils. "I said, two – bowls – of – ramen – with – everything – in – it. What part didn't you get? Or do you need another hole for a new ear?" 

The owner swallowed. "Two bowls it is, sir," he said in a low voice. 

"Good. Don't hurry back." 

Five minutes later the ramen arrived. Iruka stared at the bowl beside him and began eating in silence, with the owner watching him from behind a curtain with some fear. 

He left the ramen stall leaving the second ramen untouched, but he broke the chopsticks in two, as if almost expecting it would be eaten before he walked out. Trying to get away from the crowd, he took a sharp turn at the end lane into a previously unexplored part of Yukihama. 

Iruka walked on, lost in his thoughts that obviously dragged his emotions further down, from the way his forehead creased and his eyebrows furrowed into a straight line above his squinting eyes. He did not see where he was going, and he was walking against the stream of people who were going to the centre of the town. More than twice people bumped onto him and they apologised, but he ignored them. 

At last Iruka snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up and with a wry smile noticed where he was: Etsuraku-Gai, which led to Yukihama's red-light district. 

"What in the hell led me here?" Iruka asked himself, another wry smile tugging the corners of his lips. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked on and passed by the bright lights that decorated the inns and brothels. Beautiful ladies in various stages undress waved at him and the gawking men who were obviously spoilt for options, while some entered into these establishments without even glancing at the signs. 

Iruka walked on, in his mind only one thing remained; to get a good drink. He had gone long enough – two weeks – without a decent bottle of sake or any form of liquor. Since Lord Funaki did not prefer to serve his guests those form of refreshments, Iruka had decided to keep his mouth shut about the offending teas; personally he hated teas. 

A sign caught his attention: 

DRINK ALL YOU WANT FROM ANYWHERE ON MY BODY! 

Beside the katakana was drawn rather crudely a woman's body who was in a sitting position, her legs spread invitingly and enticingly. An old woman who was obviously a pimp saw Iruka and immediately rushed to him breathlessly. 

"I assure you sir; all of my girls are clean and delicious." 

"I'm not interested in your girls. I want –" 

"Men, then? We also cater to those with other interests!" 

Iruka narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm only here for a drink or two. Or more. What liquor do you have?" 

She gave him a lopsided look that further crinkled her already wrinkled face. "Fine. Only drinks then. That'll be an extra twenty." 

Iruka was led inside a dark building, lit only by red-and-neon-green lights and after passing by so many rooms with various female and male voices that sounded as if they were in pain – or pleasure, Iruka decided not to care – they arrived at a small room with a single light at the wall and a lone chair with a very wide table. "So what's your poison?" 

Iruka told her and soon she went and returned with three bottles of them. His eyes lit up as he sniffed at them, and almost immediately began to drink. The old woman shrugged her shoulders and closed the door behind her. 

When the second bottle was almost empty, Iruka noticed that someone was at the door. "Hey, old lady," he called out, half-drunkenly, "two more bottles!" 

The door opened and closed, and Iruka noticed that this person was taller than the old woman just now. Even with his head muddled by the alcohol, he could still clearly see this woman under the single bulb light. She had two ponytails on each side of her head, a sweet small mouth and those luscious lips that shone slightly under the light. Her eyes were in shadows, while she was wearing a small piece of cloth that covered her ample breasts. She wore a simple pair of pants, the now-you-see-now-you-don't kind of pants. Very teasing. 

"Hey, hey," Iruka said as he rose toward the door. "I don't call on any girls. Get out now." 

She grabbed his hand as he stepped outside. "Don't," she simply said. 

"What do you mean, don't? I don't call for a girl and I won't pay you." 

"I'm not here to entertain you either," she said. "Please, sit down." 

"Who are you?" Iruka said. He squinted, and immediately her features came into clear, sharp focus. There were lines just below her eyes and on both her cheeks. That made his eyes grew wide. 

"_Who are you_?!" Iruka asked, suddenly became violent. He turned away from the door and grabbed her shoulders tightly. "What do you mean by decorating yourself with" – he poked at the lines – "with these!? What – why are you doing this?!" 

She merely smiled, though the grip on her shoulders was already leaving marks on her skin. "These are not decorations. They're there since I was born, _Iruka-sensei_." 

As if stung by a scorpion, Iruka released the woman. His eyes were wide and bloodshot and suspicious. "_Who are you_?!" he demanded. His hands fell on his sides, flexing and restless. 

"Don't fool yourself any longer, sensei. It's me," she said, looking back at him with an open expression and a sad smile. "I'm Naruto." 

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, something flew toward the woman. With a flick of her elegant wrists she caught four kunai in between each finger, for each hand. Iruka stared at her, his hands dove back inside his kunai case but his fingers could only feel space and emptiness. His throat felt dry and words fought to be said in his chest, but dumbness locked his jaw. Naruto played with the kunai in his/her hand for a moment before letting them fall down and gave Iruka another sad look. 

"You – _monster_!" Iruka said breathlessly. He moved around toward the chair where he sat just now and grabbed an empty bottle off the table. "Get away from me! Get away, you fucking demented monster!" 

Naruto walked toward him as if Iruka's anger had no effect on him/her. "Sensei, looks like you're still angry about what happened to me and Sasuke and your friends." 

Iruka smashed the bottle and waved the broken and at his/her face, dangerously close. "Don't come any closer, you –" 

"I don't blame you for feeling this way, but there were more important things I had to do back then –" 

"Don't COME ANY CLOSER!" The broken end was very close; it almost grazed his/her fine nose. Iruka breathed irregularly and swallowed while Naruto continued to stare at him, mouth open slightly, small breaths escaped in regular intervals. 

"I did what I wanted to do – to protect everything I hold precious." He/she moved even closer, ignoring the sharp edges of the fine white broken bottle. "In that order, I did what I had to do, and though I succeeded –" 

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A MONSTER!" 

With that Iruka pulled the broken bottle away from his/her face and pushed it down to his/her stomach. There was a sudden stop which brought a perverted, brief smile to Iruka's now sweaty face, but then he realised it was Naruto's hand that made his hand stop, not his/her body as he had hoped. The broken tip was a hair's breadth away from where Iruka wanted it to be. Naruto smiled at Iruka. 

"Do you want me dead so badly? Sensei, do you remember that I will not allow anyone to even touch a hair on your body? That is why I came here: to warn you, but you desire my life. Ah, well." 

Iruka felt his hand was pulled forward, and suddenly his hand was covered with wet, sticky liquid that was both warm and repulsing. He felt a smile appeared briefly on his face and it was replaced by a full realisation of what had happened: he had just killed Naruto! 

Naruto stared back at him with almost a sorry smile. "There you go, sensei. I did what you desire the most. How does it feel? How does it feel to be able to kill me, sensei?" 

"No," came the almost inaudible reply. 

Naruto shook his/her head. "Yes," he said, still smiling. "This is how it feels." 

"No," Iruka said, then quickly became a crescendo of no repeated over and over again as Naruto fell on him. Iruka grabbed hold of the limp body and placed him/her on his lap. "No, Naruto, I – this is not how it's supposed to be, dammit!" 

"It's okay, sensei," he/she replied, and coughed out blood. "I'm happy that you're satisfied. But there is something I have to give to you." 

His/her shaky hand held up a small, blood-soaked paper. Iruka grabbed it and placed it in his pocket. "No, sensei, read it now." 

Iruka nodded unwillingly. He unfolded it and read, now and then switching his attention to Naruto who urged him to finish reading it. 

_Iruka-sensei, _

You're reading this because your life is in danger. I know that since a week ago you've been chasing a certain murderer whose modus operandi is draining the blood of his victim. Take note that this man is very dangerous and not even you can defeat him. He is not to be trifled with. Leave and return to Konoha Village and don't try to hunt him down. It will result in further unnecessary deaths, like what you've experienced here. I plead you to heed my words and leave this be. Leave this to me. Consider this as an act of atonement in exchange of what I have done in the past. 

Naruto 

Iruka turned to the woman in his lap. She was still smiling, and said: 

"I'm sorry to deceive you like this, Iruka-sensei, but –" 

There was a loud puff, and smoke followed, and Iruka was left alone. 

He sat on the floor with his back to the chair, feeling empty and clueless. He reread the letter, and noted with slight smile that under the name there was a small spiral drawn neatly. 

All of a sudden Iruka smiled. He shook his head and crumpled the letter in his hands. "Whatever happens, Naruto," he whispered to himself, "you're still my student. Don't blame me for everything." 

Kiba was dreaming of running in wide open fields with dogs, dogs and more dogs when suddenly someone pulled him off his bed. "What the –" he looked up and saw Iruka's silhouette. "Senpai…" 

"Get up. We're leaving." 

"What? NOW?" 

"Yes." 

"But why? It's not dawn yet." 

"We're going to hunt another monster." 

When he said those words, Kiba felt the same fear rose in his throat again, the same fear he had felt when watching Iruka torture the man. But he only said: 

"Yes, senpai." 

---@---

_There he is._

Naruto ran swiftly and stealthily toward the walking white figure. Without a scream or a cry he leapt and grabbed hold of the figure and gripped his chest tight, not willing to let go. They rolled on the ground a few times before stopping completely while the figure struggled to fight off his bear hug. 

"You've done – too much damage," Naruto said as he tightened his grip. "I won't let you continue this anymore." 

"No," the figure protested with a male voice. Under the moonlight Naruto caught a gleam of metal and suddenly his arms felt as if they were on fire. Biting his lips to fend off the crawling pain in his nerves, he tightened his hug further. 

More fiery pain rained onto his arms, increasing in both frequency and momentum. With a loud roar Naruto stood up, and with the man in front of him, ran straight toward the nearest biggest tree. There was a dull crack and his roars and the man's screams suddenly stopped. 

Catching his breath, Naruto stepped back and released his arms. The man fell in a lifeless heap before him. He looked at the body with a wide grin and wiped his bloodied arms. Slowly, though, he felt something pierced his insides. 

"Damn! So he used some kind of poison on those scalpels," Naruto said to himself as he fell backward and slowly let the Kyuubi's chakra healed him. He could see steam rising out of the holes on his arms that was made by the scalpel. In time they will heal completely, but now, he had to stay inert. The moon was covered by clouds just now, and that would effectively cover him. 

"You are still as reckless as ever, Naruto-kun. And even more careless." 

His eyes opened wide. When he wanted to sit up, a hand came from behind him and tapped the back of his neck. He fell backward again and onto the ground, trying to move his limbs, but none responded to his will. "You're – alive?" he hoarsely asked. "Then –" 

"A simple surgical feat," the man said with a small smile. Just then the lifeless heap at the tree suddenly sprang up to stand, although his neck was broken and twisted. Naruto only noticed now that there was no blood anywhere on the body. _That_ should have been a clue that something was amiss… 

"You see now? It is simple, really. Like the time I tricked your ex-sensei, Kakashi. Ah, Naruto, you're still the same fool I saw ten-plus years ago. And here you're trying to stop me?" The man laughed, as suddenly the clouds decided to drift away from the moon, and thus revealing his face to Naruto. He slicked back his long grey hair and adjusted his round glasses. "You're still a joke." 

"Damn you," Naruto said, "damn you, _Kabuto_." 

  
  
_To Be Continued... _


End file.
